More Than That
by LuckyDucky20
Summary: When Scully and Mulder's friendship starts to fall apart, and Scully gets a new man in her life, how will they cope with the changes?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own anyone. Well, I guess I own my husband since I paid for his green card... :)

Time: After 1st movie.

A/N: Got his idea from listening to Orianthi's "According to You", Backstreet Boys' (yes, I said BSB!) "More Than That", and NSYNC's (them too) "I Thought She Knew"... May throw some lyrics at you... Maybe not :) Again, slightly a/u- nothing crazy though!

* * *

Dana Scully was crying into her pillow. She was trying to fall asleep but found herself crying. Over him. Again. He had betrayed her. The burning ache in her chest refused to go away. She cursed herself for being so childish. She was an FBI agent, after all, and he was just her partner. So, why did she feel this way. Why did his words sting her still.

4 hours earlier...

Scully was pacing back and forth in Mulder's sitting room. She was waiting for him to get home. She was going over what she wanted to say to him over and over in her head. She was nervous.

The lock clicked and Mulder stepped into his apartment, not surprised to see Scully there.

"I don't want to hear it," he warned her.

"Mulder, please just hear me out," she pleaded.

He tossed his keys onto his desk and turned to look at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

She took that as a sign that he was listening. "I don't trust her," she stated.

"_You_ don't know her," he pointed out.

"I know," she admitted. "But I think that you are letting your past with her cloud your judgment!" she added.

"Get on with it! Just say what you came to say!"

Scully could tell that he was getting angry. She couldn't understand why he was so protective of Diana.

"I think what she's telling you is wrong. And I think that she's doing it purposely."

Mulder scoffed at her. "What makes you so sure? Where's your much loved proof?" he asked, bitingly.

He had never talked to her like this before. It hurt, but she pressed on.

"Well, it's really the lack of proof, Mulder. What has she been doing for the past few years? There is no record of her anywhere. It's like she disappeared! And now she has reappeared when you- _we-_ are so close to finding some sort of truth!"

"Look, Scully, she was there with me when I found the x-files. She has more right over them than you do!" he argued with her, the same edginess in his voice.

"How can you say that to me? _I_ have been in the x-files myself. My abduction. My cancer. Not even _you_ have been in the x-files as much as I have. I think that _I_ now have more reason to fight than you do! "

"I doubt that very much. You're so damn single-minded," he told her, stepping towards her, closing the gap between them. He looked down into her eyes. "You go through life without opening your eyes. You wouldn't know where to look for a fight!"

"What? Because I don't jump at the chance to chase what may or may not be alien?! Because I'm not as fucking gullible as you!" she yelled at him, losing her temper.

Mulder was angry. She pushed to far. "No. Because you refuse to see what is in front of you! All of your damn proof! Some things can't and aren't _meant_ to be proven! You just have to believe. And that's what Diana does. She believes. And it's a breath of fresh air compared to you being a bitch and your incessant nagging on about proof!"

Scully looked away. She tried hard to fight the tears that wanted form in her eyes. "You told me that I was the one who kept you honest," she reminded him. "Right before you tried to kiss me," she added, quietly, looking into his eyes.

Mulder scoffed, looking away from her. "Well, that was a mistake. I was wrong. You have done nothing but hold me back," he told her, spitefully.

The next thing Scully felt was the stinging of her hand... right after she slapped Mulder across the face.

"You're an asshole!" she spat at him.

Scully left his apartment, slamming the door behind her. Two things were for certain. First, any trust that had been built up between them had been demolished by his single comment. She was, after all, just trying to help him. As usual. Secondly, work was going to really suck tomorrow!

* * *

A/N: Not really important about what Diana did. Just needed them to fight :)


	2. Chapter 2

Scully made sure that she got to work early. She _had_ to be there before Mulder. She couldn't bare the thought of having to walk past him at his desk to get to her own, which was, unfortunately, right behind his. Since they were no longer on the x-files, they got to run background checks on those that had applied to be in the FBI. For once, this fact made her relieved. She would be in a big room with a lot of other agents instead of how it used to be. Just the two of them. One room. She would have called in sick rather be stuck with only him all day long.

Scully was on her fourth background check when Mulder entered the office. He looked like he had gotten less sleep than she had, which made her smile a bit. He headed straight to his desk without a single look at her. He quickly sat down, turning his chair so that his back was to her. Usually, he sat at his desk sideways. That way he could talk to Scully all day without having to turn around every 2 minutes! Obviously, that wouldn't be the case for today.

The two of them stayed at their desks for the better part of the morning. Scully really had to pee, and Mulder was starving, but neither one of them was willing to draw attention to themselves from the other by moving. So, they stayed put and suffered in silence.

Around 10 o'clock Mulder's desk phone rang. He quickly snatched it up. "Mulder," he answered.

Scully couldn't help but to eavesdrop a bit. Whoever it was, she could tell that it was making Mulder a bit unhappy. He sighed, said "On the way, sir," and hung up the phone.

"Skinner wants to see us," he said quietly, with his back still to her as he got up from his desk, grabbing his suit jacket.

Scully rolled her eyes and followed him, at a distance, to the elevator. Once inside the elevator, they stood as far apart as possible, both with crossed arms and line of sight straight ahead. They made their way silently to Skinner's office.

"Take a seat," he told them as they entered the room.

"I'd like to stand," Scully told him.

Skinner gave her an odd look but shrugged and continued on, once Mulder had taken his seat.

"I got you two off of desk duty for the rest of the day," he told them happily as he slid a file towards Mulder. "It's not an x-file, but at least you won't be stuck inside all day. There has been a murder and the Virginia PD need some help. I told them that you two would love to help out. So, head on out and grab some lunch on your way."

"Sir," Scully spoke up, "I appreciate this opportunity, but I don't feel very well today-"

"What's wrong?" Skinner asked, sounding concerned and hoping that it had nothing to do with her cancer. It had mysteriously disappeared, after all.

"Oh, nothing too serious," she informed him. "It just have a slight pain in my back. It kind of feels like I have been stabbed with a knife. So, I think that I will sit this one out, but I'm sure that Agent Fowley would make a great partner for Agent Mulder."

At that she turned on her heel, left the office, and headed straight into the ladies' bathroom. Luckily, no one was in the bathroom. If anyone was, she knew that the look on her face would most likely frighten them. _Dana, get it together,_ she scolded herself.

Suddenly, the door flung open and Mulder stormed into the ladies' room.

"How dare you act like that!" he fumed at her. "How dare you embarrass me like that!"

"Oh, that's right, _everything_ is _always_ about _you_!" she retorted.

"I don't care if you're mad at me, but we are at work. Act like a decent person and suck it up! Stop making everything personal."

"But it _is_ personal. Everything about our disagreement is personal! Everything about the x-files!" she shouted at him.

"No. It's only personal to _you_. Get over yourself," he told her.

"_Me_?!" she asked incredulously. "The whole reason that you ever had any interest in the x-files, in the 'truth,' was for your own _personal_ reason- to find your sister!"

"Don't _you_ talk to me about my sister," he warned her.

"Yeah! Well, at least you may still have a sister!" She pushed past him and out the door.

Scully wasn't ready to forgive Mulder this morning, but she did hope that things were going to get better. After their newest fight, that hope looked dim. She was happier than usual that tomorrow was Saturday. No work. And more importantly, no Mulder. Hopefully, the weekend would give them enough time apart for their tempers to simmer down.


	3. Chapter 3

Emotions. Everyone had their own way with dealing with their emotions. Some people would eat. Others would not eat. Still, other people would go kick the ass of the person who had affected their emotions so greatly. Scully ran. Running let her truly be in her own head. And because her emotions were worn out, she needed to inflict the pain that she was feeling on the inside to her body on the outside. _Trail running_, she had decided. Rough terrain, curving paths, and steep hills were just the things that she needed.

Half-way through her run, as she was thinking hard about how she was going to try to fix hers and Mulder's friendship, her foot caught on a tree root. She violently tumbled down the hill that she was about to descend, knocking her head on a small rock on the way down. Once her body reached the bottom, she laid in the grass, trying to catch her breath. She put her hand to her head and pulled it back to see the warm, sticky blood that she had expected to see.

"Hey! Are you okay?" a voice yelled down at her from the top of the hill.

Soon there was a body at her side. She looked up into a pair dark blue eyes.

"Can you tell me your name?" the man asked, obviously trying to assess her head injury.

"Dana," she answered, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "And I'm fine. It's just a little cut."

"I would actually call that a gash," he corrected her. "I'm a doctor. I've seen my fair share of head wounds, and that may need some stitches," he informed her, helping her to her feet. "My name is Eric, and I've got a first aid kit in my car. Would you mind if I checked you out?"

"Not at all," she gave him a small smile.

Eric was a very good looking man. Model-type good looking. He was about a foot taller than her, with dark brown hair and those stunning dark blue eyes. His body was very athletically fit. As far as Scully was concerned, he could check her out all day long if he wanted to!

"It doesn't actually look too bad once cleaned off," he told her, referring to her head wound. "Let me bandage you up, and that should be all you need."

"Thanks for doing this," she told him. "I mean, nowadays, most people would have just run on by." Did she really just say 'nowadays'?!?!?! _Shit._

He smiled at her. "Well, I like to think of myself as a gentleman. I would never leave a beautiful lady lying on the ground bleeding. Then again, that could just be the doctor in me."

"I went to med-school," she told him. "But I traded being a doctor in for joining the FBI."

"Ah, so you're a tough cookie! Well, as your current doctor, I'm going to have to recommend that you see me at least one more time before I clear you for trail running again. How about dinner next week?" he flirted, shamelessly.

"I'll have to check my schedule," she played hard-to-get, "but that sounds great."

The two of them chatted a little bit longer before she gave him her number and got in her car to leave. _Saturdays are nice,_ she thought. She couldn't wait for next week. She was happy that she had come out to the trails as a way to keep her mind off of Mulder. Well, she found a new way. A tall handsome way, named Eric.

*

Scully had gone on several dates with Eric, and it was only two weeks since they had meet. Her life was going way better than it was two weeks ago. She and Mulder were now at least speaking, though only over work issues, and nothing _too_ friendly was ever said. It was more like they tolerated each other. Which was fine with her! She had other things to think about. More pleasant things. Like kissing Eric.

"Agent Scully?" a voice broke through her thoughts.

She looked up to see one of the many receptionists. She was holding an arrangement of flowers.

"These were delivered for you," she told her, girlish excitement in her voice.

"Oh. Thank you!" Scully said, standing and taking the vase full of flowers from her.

"Who's the lucky man?" the girl couldn't help to ask.

Scully blushed a little bit. "A guy that I have been dating for only two weeks."

"Wow. Flowers already? He's a keeper!" she smiled and walked away.

Scully noticed that some of the other agents, mostly women, were looking enviously at her flowers. She couldn't help but to smile to herself. She placed them on the corner of her desk and sat back down, plucking the card out of the arrangement. She ripped it open and read: _Dana, These past two weeks have been wonderful. You're smart and beautiful, and I hope that our relationship can bloom. Like these flowers. See you tonight, Eric_

Scully blushed again. She was reading the card over and over again, when a very familiar voice broke her thoughts this time.

"What are those?" Mulder gestured to flowers as he took his seat. He turned his chair around to face her desk for the first time in weeks.

"Flowers," she simply said, sounding almost annoyed. _Now he wants to talk to me..._

"Yeah. I can see that. I mean, what are they for? Did I miss your birthday again?" he sounded a bit worried.

She sighed, "My birthday was in February, Mulder." She paused to decide whether or not she should tell him. It wasn't any of his business, but she kind of wanted to rub it in that she was dating someone and he was alone. As usual.

"If you must know, they're from a guy that I have been dating."

"You're dating someone?!" he asked, sounding shocked.

She looked him in the eye. "I am capable of getting dates, Mulder. Some men think that I'm smart and beautiful!" she waved the card at him.

Mulder quickly snatched it out of her hand and read the short message quickly before tossing it back at her.

"'Like these flowers'?!" he quoted. "That's got to be the cheesiest thing that I have ever heard."

"_I_ think that it's sweet!" she defended Eric.

"Yeah. He just wants to get in your panties," he told her quietly, putting an arm on her desk to lean in closer so no one would hear him.

"How do you know he hasn't gotten in to them already?!" she whispered back, somewhat defiantly.

He laughed at her. "Because men who have already gotten what they want don't send flowers and write cheesy little cards!"

"Well, Eric isn't like other men," she eyed him pointedly. "He's a gentleman. And only says things that he means."

"This Eric is like every other man. We only want one thing, Scully!" he patted her arm and moved his chair back around to face his own desk. "But I'm happy for you. He has made you seem less miserable," he told her over his shoulder, smiling so that she knew that he meant it light-heartedly, and did not want to start another fight.

"Thanks," she rolled her eyes.

Mulder stared at his computer screen, not really reading the words that were on it. Scully had a boyfriend. One that sent her flowers and seemed nice. And all that he had done the past two weeks was fight with her. He still loved her and regretted everything that he had said to her. Half of the stuff he said was just to hurt her. She was his best friend, and he knew what to say to hurt her. He knew that he had lost his chance with her. _First a bee, now a boyfriend. _He ran his fingers through his hair. All he could hope to do now was to try to be the good friend that he once was. And maybe this other guy would screw things up for himself somehow. Just maybe.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews!

* * *

Mulder knocked on Scully's apartment door. He had come to pick her up. They were going on their first road trip assignment since being put on desk duty. The door opened and there stood Eric.

"Hey, man. She'll be ready soon. I guess. She has got to be the slowest person I know when it comes to packing!" he joked loudly, making sure that Scully heard him.

"Hey! This was last minute! Cut me some slack!" she defended herself from the bedroom.

Mulder leaned against the door. "You know I don't mind waiting," he called to Scully.

Eric glanced towards the bedroom, as if to make sure that Scully wasn't going to be coming out anytime soon. He then turned to Mulder and said in a low voice, "Listen, man, if you touch my girlfriend, I will kick your ass. I sure as hell don't trust you."

"You're right, you shouldn't trust me," Mulder told him honestly. "And, unfortunately, there will most likely be at least a little touching. So do you want to get my ass-kicking over with now or when we get back? It doesn't matter either way to me," he told him nonchalantly.

Mulder wanted Eric to go ahead and try to kick his ass right there and then. He planned on not defending himself too much. He knew that Scully would be very angry and most likely be finished with Eric.

Before Eric could respond, Scully was finally ready to go. Eric held the door open, and Mulder grabbed her bag for her, after he was sure that Eric wasn't going to do it. Once at the car, Mulder put her bag in the trunk.

"All ready to go!"

"Make sure she gets back safely," Eric warned. "And don't let her drive. She can't drive worth shit!" he smiled slightly, looking down at Scully. He pulled her into a big bear hug.

"Well, that sucks because neither can I!"

Scully chuckled a bit at Mulder's comment, earning him a glare from Eric. Mulder just smiled back at him. _This is too easy,_ he thought.

"Well, we better be going if we want to get to our motel before dark," Mulder said, knowing that the 'motel' comment would add to Eric's dislike of him.

"Okay, okay," Scully said, pulling herself away from Eric.

Eric caught her by the arm and pulled her back in for a kiss. A long, bordering on make-out, kiss.

_Is he trying to eat her,_ Mulder thought. _Gross._

"I'll miss you," Eric told her, letting her go.

Mulder got into the car, trying to hurry Scully along. She slid into the passenger side.

"Need some chapstick?" he asked, teasing her as he pulled away and onto the main road.

"Mulder...." she playfully hit his arm.

"Just being polite," he said.

*

Their case had taken them to a field. A field where Scully had crashed their car into a ditch. The suspect jumped his car over the ditch- Dukes of Hazzard style- and got away. Luckily, this was a small town, and their motel was only about two miles away. Unluckily, it was pouring down rain, which was part of the reason Scully didn't see the ditch.

"I'm sorry, Mulder," Scully told him, rather pathetically. They had begun their walk back.

He sighed, "It's not too big of a deal. We know who he is. We just have to find him now," he told her, trying to make her feel better.

"Eric was right. I'm a horrible driver."

"Eric is an asshole," Mulder told her, grabbing her arm to stop her walking when he did. "He threaten to kick my ass if I touched you." He looked down at the contact of his hand on her arm. "Oops!" he smiled.

"Really?" Scully questioned.

"Really," Mulder confirmed.

"He's just being protective."

"Who do you think is gonna win?"

"Mulder..." she sighed, then decided to play along knowing that he wouldn't drop it. "Well, I know that Eric is really strong and bigger than you, but you're a trained FBI agent... and a bit of a scrapper. I wouldn't put it past you to use a chair if you had to!" she half-joked. "I'm pretty sure that you would win that fight."

"I think so too, but I'm really a lover, not a fighter!" he told her as they began to walk again.

"Yeah, let's ask Krycek about that one," she smiled up at him, trying to hold back a laugh.

He looked down at her with a mock-shocked expression, which made them both start to laugh. When their laughter faded away, he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side.

"I've missed you, Scully. I'm sorry for everything that I said to you."

"I'm sorry too," she told him, wrapping her arm around his waist. "You have to know that I was only trying to protect you."

"I know. But everything turned out okay, right?"

"Right," she replied. But she wasn't actually sure if everything was 'right.'


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This chapter deserves lyrics. Sorry if you don't like them. Song belongs to Nsync.

_She was my once in a lifetime  
Happy ending come true  
Oh I guess I should have told her  
But I thought she knew_

_She said I took her for granted  
It's the last thing I would do  
Oh I'll never understand it  
I thought she knew_

_I thought she knew  
My world revolved around her  
My love light burns for her alone  
But she couldn't see the flame  
Only myself to blame  
I should have known_

* * *

"Mulder? Has one of your fish died?" Scully asked, peering though the glass of his fish tank.

"Uh, yeah. He was pretty old for a fish. He got a nice 'out to sea' burial this morning," he told her, coming into the room with a couple of beers.

She took one of the beer bottles from him. "So... I guess this is to us. Back on the x-files." She smiled and clinked her bottle against his.

They both took a sip, though Mulder's was more like a gulp. "Yes it is," he smiled. "Listen, Scully, thanks for sticking by me all these years. I really don't know what I would do without you."

"You would probably be in jail without me!" She smiled and took another drink.

"I most likely would be!" he agreed.

They sat on the couch, and she made a move to turn on the tv. He quickly put his hand on top of hers to stop her. She looked up at him quizzically.

"Uh, I want to talk," he said, running a hand through his hair and taking another gulp of beer. _Ah, liquid courage!_

"Sure," she simply said and sat back against the couch. She took a sip of her beer, waiting for him to proceed.

"Scully, you're my best friend, and you know that I love you, right?"

"Of course, Mulder. You've told me many times," she laughed at his sudden need to rehash their feelings and friendship.

"And me? You love me too, right?"

"You know I love you," she told him sincerely. She was now getting a little nervous that what he was leading up to was bad news or something. She shifted a little in her seat and took a bigger gulp of beer.

Mulder took a deep breath. "I lied to you," he told her. "When I told you that it was a mistake- me trying to kiss you- I lied."

"Okay..." she replied, not really knowing where he was going with this.

"I'm in love with you. I think you're funny and smart and beautiful and perfect. You're the only one who has ever made me feel this way," he quickly confessed, looking into her shocked eyes.

"Mulder..." she stood up. "You- you can't be saying this."

"Why not?!" he stood up too.

"Mulder... All these years... Why now?!"

"I tried to tell you before! But that bee thing happened, and then we were fighting, and then you got a boyfriend- a horrible boyfriend-"

"Mulder! You're just saying all of this because you're afraid to lose me. To someone_ you_ don't like! But, Mulder, you'll never lose me," she said, looking up into his hazel eyes and taking his hand. "We're best friends. I'll always be here for you. So, you don't have to go pretending like you're in love with me!"

Mulder put his hands on Scully's shoulders and looked her directly into her clear blue eyes. "I _am_ in love with you. I am not pretending. I know I should have told you sooner."

She backed away from him. She didn't know why, but she was angry.

"You're not in love with me," she told him again.

He took a step toward her, and she took another step back. "Of course I am," he argued.

"No, you're not. You just hate to lose."

"That's not it!" he tried to make her understand.

"When someone loves you, they don't lie to you. They don't hurt you. They don't take you for granted," she told him as calmly as she could, fighting back tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just- I thought you knew how I felt." He was stumbling over his words. This wasn't the reaction that he was expecting.

"How would I?!" she raised her voice as the tears she tried to fight back fell freely down her face. "You never said anything! You're always so distant! You never let me in!"

"You don't let me in!" he couldn't resist the retort.

Scully stood there staring at him. She took a deep breath and wiped her tears away. "I'm with Eric. I-I can't do this with you right now. It's not fair to him!"

"Scully, please-" he was prepared to beg.

"I gotta go," she said, and quickly grabbed her coat and was out the door before Mulder could react.

Scully took the stairs. She knew that she wouldn't be able to wait for the elevator. Mulder would have stopped her, and she didn't trust herself to not turn around and go back to him. She tried to not even think about what he had said until she was driving home.

Once at home, she plopped down on the couch and stared at her blank tv screen. Mulder had done it again. He had made her cry over him. She didn't want him to see her cry because then he would know that she cared. She did care. She cared very much. She loved him. But the pain he caused her was practically unbearable. She couldn't image what the pain would be like if they took their relationship to another level.

Eric. Eric was good to her. He made her laugh, not like Mulder did, but he still succeeded in the task. He was smart and very attractive, more handsome than Mulder, but more importantly he was always there for her. She didn't have to try to talk him out of any silly ideas. He didn't drag her on crazy road trips in the middle of the night. He never put her in the way of danger. And the first thing that he did when he called or saw her was ask her about her day. He was interested in her. It wasn't all about him, which is more than she could say for Mulder.

Mulder. She loved Mulder almost more than her own mother. And even thought he dragged her around on crazy missions, she didn't regret a single second that she had spent with him. Even when they were fighting. Mulder wasn't as good looking as Eric, but looks never meant that much to her anyway, and he was still very cute! She was comfortable with him, and the newness of Eric still made her nervous every now and then.

But she had made her decision. And until Eric gave her reason to leave, she would stay with him. He deserved a chance. Mulder had had plenty of chances. He passed them all by without a single care in the world. So, she would pass Mulder by. If he really loved her, he would wait for her, and maybe she would give him another chance.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: A few personal opinion notes- I categorized this story as Drama and not Angst because Angst makes me think of Emo things and death, whereas Drama is a few cat-fights and "Oh, no he didn't!" moments. Also, I'm from Kentucky, so the word 'honey' or 'hon' is definitely an endearing term, but 'baby' and 'babe' drive me nuts!

* * *

Scully's alarm blasted her from her slumber the next morning. She groaned and hit it hard with her hand. She rolled out of bed and made her way to the shower.

Today was going to be emotional. Work with Mulder, the man she hurt. A cocktail party with Eric, the man she hurt Mulder for.

"Thank god it's Friday," she muttered to herself.

Scully wasn't going to have time to change from her work clothes into a cocktail dress. So she decided to wear a simple form-fitting gray dress with a black fitted suit jacket over it to work. She would just take the jacket off before she went to the party. She was a little nervous about going to a party with Eric and all of his doctor friends. However, she was even more nervous to work with Mulder today.

She was a little late making it down to the x-files office. It was hotter than she thought outside- it was only April- and she couldn't be bothered to put her black, heat-attracting jacket on yet.

"Sorry, I'm late," she told Mulder as she entered the room.

She could tell that the sudden heatwave had taken its affects on him too. He was already down to his button-down shirt with the sleeves already rolled up, and his tie was flung over his shoulder.

"Wow!" he said when he looked up from some files. "If that's your idea of getting me to stop flirting with you, you better come up with a new plan!" he told her, referring to her dress. He stood up a walked over to 'her' area of the office.

"Mulder, about last night, I'm sorry-"

"Nope," he put a finger on her lips. "I'm sorry. That was very presumptuous of me. I just want you to be happy." He kissed the top of her head. "And I will always be here for you if you need me to kick anyone's ass with a chair." He smiled.

"Thank you," was all she could say.

Mulder walked back over to the safety of his desk before saying, "Though I must say, that dress is very very nice! Makes your body look very good!"

"Mulder!" she exclaimed and threw a pack of post-its at him. "That's sexual harassment, you know?!"

"I know," he grinned. "But you just assaulted a fellow FBI agent so I guess that makes us even!"

She sat down at her excuse for a desk and began to look over some files that Mulder has so kindly placed there that morning. Scully was very relieved that he was acting normal- well, normal for Mulder.

*

Scully ran up the steps leading into the restaurant. She was a little late. As soon as she made her way inside, Eric was waiting for her.

"Hey, babe, you're late," he told her, kissing her cheek.

"I know. I'm sorry. Paperwork!"

"It's okay. I just don't want my girl to make me look bad," he explained.

She looked up at him, slightly shocked. She wasn't _that_ late!

"Dana? Gray? That dress makes you look so pale," he added another complaint.

"I _am_ pale. So nothing can make me look pale. It's just natural," she told him, slightly defensive.

"Okay. Okay. Luckily, your body looks great!" he smiled at her, obviously trying compliments instead.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"Come on. I want you to meet some of my buddies," he told her, taking her by the hand and pulling her to a small group of men.

Scully thought that Eric was acting a little weird. She brushed it off as him being just as nervous as she was to meet his friends.

"Dana, this is Matt, Brian, and Todd. Guys, this is Dana," he introduced.

"Ah, we finally get to meet the lovely Dana," Matt said, taking her hand and kissing it.

Matt seemed to be the one who was at least a little bit sober.

"I'm a plastic surgeon," Todd began, "and you have wonderful breasts! I may see if Eric could loan you to me so I could make a mold of them."

"Oh, yeah!" Brian high-fived him.

Scully looked up at Eric, clearly uncomfortable, waiting for him to defend her.

"Aw, come on, man, I can't let you talk to my girl like that," Eric said, taking the hint.

"Hey, I'm just making an observation!" Todd said, holding his hands up. It seemed that they had all be reduced to frat-boy behavior.

"I'm going to get a drink," she told Eric.

Scully walked quickly to the bar and ordered a glass of red wine. This party was, so far, not fun.

"Hey, babe, what's going on? It's kind of rude to just walk away like that," he told her. Eric had followed her to the bar.

"It's kind of rude that your friend was saying that to me," she retorted.

"He's just being a guy. That's how guys- especially single ones- act when they've been drinking. He's harmless," he defended his friend.

"I wish you would have defended me as much as you're defending him."

"Don't be like this. Why do you take everything so personal? It's a party. Have fun," he rubbed her arm.

Now, this was the second man to tell her that she took too many things personal. Maybe they were right. She was going soft, getting too emotional about little things.

She sighed, and nodded. "Okay. Sorry. It's just been a long week."

"Don't worry about it, babe. Let's just enjoy the rest of our night."

*

Scully woke up for the first time in Eric's bed instead of hers. It had been a month since they had first started dating, and they- he- had decided that they needed to have some sleepovers and some 'physical' time. Basically, he wanted sex. She couldn't blame him. One thing she did know about men was their need for sexual release. So, she being the loving girlfriend had obliged. However, she felt very guilty the next morning.

_This isn't fair!_ she thought. _Dana, get over it!_

Scully got out of bed and slipped her gray dress from last night back on. She headed quietly into the kitchen.

"Hey," she whispered when she saw Eric.

He put a finger up to his lips to shush her. He was on the phone.

"Breakfast?" she whispered again.

He smiled and nodded.

Scully went through his cabinets, which were filled with food. Healthy food. She spotted a box of whole wheat pancake mix and pulled it down. _Yummy!_

She stood in the kitchen, bare foot_, _and started mixing all of the ingredients together. She tipped some of the mix into two pans, placed them on the burners, and waited. She flipped on the tv in the kitchen to pass some time. It seemed to take forever for the pans to heat up. So she sat on one of the kitchen stools and began to watch an old 'Friends' episode. Pretty soon she the air smelled of burnt pancake, which set the smoke alarm in the kitchen off.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed, hopping off of the stool.

Scully turned the burners off. She grabbed the pan that had a black crispy substance in it and took it to the sink.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" Eric said, running into the kitchen. He grabbed a sink towel and started waving it around the alarm to get it to stop beeping. When it finally stopped, he surveyed the damage.

"Sorry. I'm not used to cooking wheat pancakes. Normal ones usually take longer. The other one looks okay, though."

"Are you stupid?! You burnt _pancakes_?! I thought that women were supposed to be able to cook!"

"Excuse me?!" Scully was affronted.

"It doesn't matter. It's okay. We'll just go somewhere for brunch or something," he told her, leaning against the counter in front of her.

"No. Did you just call me stupid?"

"Dana! Why do you always want to fight?!"

"Did you call me stupid?" she crossed her arms. She was not going to let this one go.

"Of course!" he blew up. "You burnt the easiest food there is to make! That's pretty damn stupid! I know you couldn't cut it as a doctor, but making pancakes isn't exactly surgery!"

"Yeah... I'm going to go now," she said calmly and pushed past him.

"Dana. Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." He followed her into the bedroom where she was collecting her things.

"You know, I don't actually blame you. I think that I just attract assholes. I think that there is something about me, maybe an invisible sign or something, that just makes assholes want to date me. And then, there's something about assholes that I must like because I choose to date them!" she ranted.

"Dana, I'm sorry. I am an asshole. You're not stupid. I just have a lot on my mind, and I lost my temper. Please, forgive me."

She stopped what she was doing for a second, and contemplated her choices.

"No," she said simply.

He looked shocked, as if no woman has ever said 'no' to him.

"I've got to go." She walked to the door, and paused before she left. "I'll call you," she promised.

He shoved his hands in his pocket and nodded.

Scully knew more than anything that she wanted to spend the rest of the weekend with herself. She would call Eric, after they had both calmed down, and she had a chance to actually think things through. All she wanted to do was to take a bath, eat pizza, and watch movies, which had plots consisting of things blowing up. She would deal with her man troubles later. For now, she just wanted to deal with herself!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! More lyrics! Get excited. These belong to the Backstreet Boys. Yeah, I loved them in high school...

_I can see that you've been crying_  
_You can't hide it with a lie_  
_What's the use in you denying_  
_That what you have is wrong_

* * *

Scully had gotten to the office early. As it turned out, sitting alone in her apartment with only her thoughts to keep her company had been a bad idea. She had called Eric just like she said she would. She was going to let him know by the end of the weekend if she was willing to give him another chance or not. Well, it was the end of the weekend.

Her phone ringing interrupted her thoughts.

"Scully," she answered.

"Dana," Eric's voice greeted her.

"Eric," she sighed.

"You told me that you would-"

"I'm at work!" she cut him off.

"Dana, I'm sorry, but you can't keep me hanging like this. I'm miserable. Please, just forgive me, babe. Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Eric, I can't talk about this right now!"

"I'll keep calling you, and I'll send you flowers and chocolates, and I'll send you a singing 'I'm Sorry' gram. Whatever it takes. Just don't hang up without giving me an answer."

"Fine," she replied, knowing that he wouldn't give up. "I'll see you tonight." She hung up her phone before he could say anything else.

She sighed, and spun around in her chair. _This is what I feel like,_ she thought, the chair making her feel dizzy and making her true view of the world around her blurry.

A pair of strong hands grabbed the arms of her chair to stop it from spinning.

"I do not want to clean up your puke!" Mulder smiled down at her. "So, if you could stop this, that would be great. I think that I'm a little dizzy myself from watching you!" he said, walking over to his desk.

"Sorry. I was bored," she told him.

"You? Bored? Never! Something must be wrong... Are you feeling okay?" he asked, jokingly.

He didn't know how right he was. She didn't feel 'okay,' but she wasn't about to tell him anything.

"I'm fine, Mulder."

"You're lying, but I'll let you keep lying to yourself until one day you'll wake up and see the truth," he smiled, knowing that she would get his many messages in that one statement.

"Mulder, can we just get to work? Do we actually have any cases?"

"Well, Scully, I'm glad you ask. There is this one case that_ I've_ come across, a definite x-file, of this woman who loves the town monster, instead of the town hero-"

"Mulder! Stop it!"

"What?!" he laughed. "As far as I'm concerned, you're back in the x-files."

"Mulder, stop picking on Eric, stop flirting with me, stop hitting on me, stop the sexual innuendos, just stop!" she told him, more flustered than frustrated or angry.

"Oh, Scully, you know me. I'm not a quitter. And you yourself said that I hate to lose. So, I respectfully refuse your request for me to 'stop.' I won't stop until there is a ring on that lovely little finger of yours!" He smiled triumphantly at her.

"Mulder!"

"And I mean wedding ring, not engagement ring. Engagements are still subject to change..."

"Mulder!"

"Anyway, a real x-file that is recognized by the FBI, and not just me, has been reported. There is a small town-"

"Of course, a small town! Big towns never have any x-files!"

"As I was saying, a small town in West Virginia has reported that there may be a shape-shifting entity that lives in their public library. However, it likes to make visits to the lovely townsfolk during the night."

"What does this 'entity' do for people to think that it _is_ an entity?"

"Some people have had their houses rearranged. Others have had their houses cleaned out, all of their belongings thrown out into the yard."

"Okay, let's say that I'll believe this for a second, what do they want us to do? How are _we_ going to help?" Scully questioned.

"Well, I'm not sure yet. We might be unable to help, but we could at least get some of your precious proof that some unexplained things _do_ exist!"

"When are we leaving?" Scully asked, speeding up the inevitable.

"Tomorrow! Early. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!" he smiled as she groaned. "I'll pick you up at 6am on the dot!"

Scully glared at Mulder. "Why do you do these things to me? Can't we sleep in a bit when we don't have to come into the office?" she slightly whined.

"And miss spending an extra second with you? I think not!"

"I hate you."

"You do not. Now, you may hate my actions, but me? Me, you love!"

She couldn't help but to crack a smile at his boyishness. "Well, maybe. Just a little bit."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: This is a long chapter because it took me a bit longer to write. I knew what I wanted them to say and where I wanted them to be as people, just getting them there was the hard part! :) More lyrics. Backstreet Boys own them.

_You deserve much better_  
_What's the use in holding on_  
_Don't you see it's now or never_  
_Cause I just can't be friends_  
_Knowing in the end, that..._

_I will love you more than that_

* * *

Scully finished packing her bag. She was going to get as much sleep as possible tomorrow morning. She refused to get up even earlier to pack. Also, she didn't like to do last minute packing, she would forget something if she had to rush around.

She headed into the kitchen and shoved a casserole dish into the oven. She was making a healthy version of baked ziti for herself and Eric. She had agreed to have him over for dinner. If things didn't go as well as she wanted them to, she would have an easy 'I'm going out of town' excuse. Just knowing that she was relieved to have an excuse to get away from Eric if she needed to turned on a big red flashing light in her head. With glittery streamers. If she felt this way about him now over a little fight, how would she feel over a big fight? Scully noticed that it was harder to forgive Eric for calling her stupid than it was to forgive Mulder for pretty much stabbing her in the back and choosing- ugh!- Diana over her.

Scully set the oven timer (no burnt food this time!) and settled on the couch. In no time at all, there was a knock on the door. She pulled it open to see the handsome face of Eric.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey," she replied, stepping back to let him in.

Scully and Eric actually had a good night. They talked and laughed and watched movies. She knew that even though he called her stupid, people make mistakes in the heat of a moment. All was forgiven. She agreed to let him stay over, but only cuddling was allowed.

*

The next morning, Scully's alarm went off at 5:30am. She hit snooze many times until she realized that it was 5:50am and that she only had 10 minutes to get ready before Mulder got there. Not to mention, she wanted to get Eric out of the apartment as well before Mulder showed up. She wasn't ready for that level of awkwardness this early in the morning!

"Eric," she whispered, shaking him gently. "Get up. I have to go, so you have to go."

"Go?" he asked groggily. "Go where?" he sat up in the bed.

"I have to go out of town today. Mulder's going to be here in, like, 8 minutes!" Scully rushed into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Out of town?!" Eric followed her to the bathroom.

"Work," she tried to say through her toothpaste-filled mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me about this? I mean, we just had a nice evening, and now you're running off with Mulder to do god knows what!?!"

Scully spit the toothpaste into the sink and rinsed her mouth out.

"Yeah, that's basically it," she answered.

"Well, I'm not going to let you go!" Eric crossed his arms like a petulant child.

"It's not like I have a choice," she told him, which was a lie. She _could_ let Mulder go alone, but she would never dream of letting him go to a weird town without backup. "It's work. I have to go. You should understand that, being a doctor. When duty calls, you have to go running."

"I don't want you to 'go running' anywhere with him!" Eric's insecurities were beginning to show.

"Mulder? You don't have to worry about Mulder!" Another lie. "He's my partner."

Just then there was a knock at the door. Scully opened it and let Mulder in.

"Just let me grab my bag," she told him quickly, before disappearing into her bedroom.

"Eric," Mulder acknowledged his presence.

Eric didn't say anything to him.

Scully was back within seconds, carrying her bag. Eric grabbed her arm as she passed him.

"You're not going," he told her in a low voice.

She pulled out of his grasp. "Stop," she warned him. She walked into the hallway with Mulder and held the door open as a clear sign that she wanted Eric to follow.

"Come back into the apartment," he requested.

"No," she stated. "Stop acting like this."

"Get back in the apartment," he demanded.

"Yeah, that's inappropriate..." Mulder spoke up, stepping towards Eric.

"No one fucking asked you!" he addressed Mulder, but was still looking at Scully. "Get your fucking ass back in this apartment now!" he yelled at her.

Without warning, Mulder punched Eric in the face as hard as he could.

"Get your fucking ass _out_ of her apartment now!" Mulder practically growled.

Eric recovered from the initial shock of the punch, and then the pain, and quickly flung himself at Mulder. And the fight began.

Scully just stood there for a second, then went back into her apartment and shut the door behind the three of them. First things first, she didn't want them to wake her landlord, or anyone else for that matter. Not that shutting the door would help that much. She couldn't really tell who was winning for sure, but it looked like Mulder wasn't as worn down as Eric was. Mulder was a runner, after all, and his cardio capacity was really good.

"Stop it!" Scully yelled at them when the shock wore off, and she realized that she had a voice.

They, of course, did not listen to her. Mulder was punching Eric in the ribs, while Eric was trying to get him into a headlock.

"Stop it!" Scully yelled again. She tried to pull them apart. When that didn't work (and Eric almost accidentally elbowed her in the eye), she ran to her hall closet and got a broom. She came back and began to hit them with it.

"Ow!" and "Stop it!" were the replies she got as they released each other.

"Get out!" she yelled.

"Yeah, get out," Mulder backed her up.

"BOTH of you!" she yelled, looking at Mulder.

"Wha-" he was shocked.

"Both of you!" she repeated.

Eric straighten his clothes, glared at Mulder, muttered "I'm sorry" to Scully, and did as she asked. He left the door open behind him as a big hint that Mulder should follow.

"Scully-"

"Go!" she pointed to the door.

"I was just defending you," he explained.

"I don't need you to defend me! I'm not yours to defend! You acted like a jerk-"

"_He_ acted like a jerk!"

"He did. But the Mulder I know and love isn't a jerk! You just used that whole situation to have an excuse to fight Eric."

"That's not completely true!"

She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"It's not! And you_ are_ mine to defend. You're my best friend. I was just sticking up for you!" he argued. "You didn't deserve the way he was treating you. You deserve better than that."

"Mulder, just leave," she said, tired of arguing with him.

"No," he told her. "Either I'm staying here, or you're coming with me."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "What makes you think that either of those two things will happen?"

"Well, I'm bigger and stronger than you. So either, one, I pick you up and carry you out of here, or two, you're too small to move me so I'll just stay put," he told her.

She sighed, exasperated. "You are so annoying," she told him, heading over to her freezer. She pulled out a bag of frozen peas.

"Only because you know I'm right!" Mulder smiled and followed her.

She tossed him the bag. "For your face. It will keep any swelling down. And we both know that your head doesn't need to get any bigger than it already is."

"You're my doctor. Can you apply the pressure for me?" he asked, making his best puppy dog face.

"Fine. Sit."

They walked over to the couch and sat. She pressed the ice-cold bag to his cheekbone, that was the place that looked like it might bruise.

"Ow! Too hard!" he complained.

"You asked me to do it. So I'm doing it," she told him, smiling.

They sat there in silence for a while, theirs heads close together, Mulder staring into her eyes, trying to read her, Scully staring at the makeshift ice bag, trying to avoid him. "Why do I let you get away with everything?" she finally whispered.

"Because you love me," he answered.

"Mulder..."

He placed his hands on either side of her face, pulled her in, and quickly began to kiss her. She, just as quickly, pushed him away.

"Mulder! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Taking a chance," he smiled.

"No! You're in trouble with me! This is not the time to try to seduce me or whatever it is that you think you are doing!"

"Well, think of this as my apology," he said, leaning back in to kiss her again.

She dodged him and stood up. "Stop!" she demanded, trying to sound serious, but there was laughter in her voice. Of course, the laughter was caused by her disbelief of how he could be so blatantly impertinent.

"Come on, Scully! You're just afraid because you don't have an excuse to stay away from me anymore," he said, standing up as well.

She crossed her arms. "You are so arrogant! What makes you think that I don't still want to be with Eric?"

He laughed. "That's just ridiculous! Why have Eric, who is an asshole and treats you like a piece of property, when you can have me, who adores the ground you walk on? And I'm right here. Right now-"

"Because I made him leave."

"Yes! You made _him_ leave, but I'm still here. Why is that?"

"Because he respected my wishes and you acted like a brat?"

"No, because subconsciously you want _me_ here and not him."

"Don't try all that psych babble on me! I'm not an idiot."

"No, you're not." He pulled her into a hug. She tried to resist, but failed miserably (he _is_ bigger and stronger). "You're very smart, and I know that you will make the right decision." He kissed the top of her head.

Scully pushed Mulder away for the second time. "And what decision is that?" she eyed him suspiciously.

"You could choose me over Eric," he told her, smiling.

"What if I don't want to choose either of you?" she challenged.

"Again, ridiculous! I poured my little heart out to you, and you told me that you were going to keep seeing Eric. Well, after today, if you keep seeing Eric, I will lose all respect for you, and I may actually fall out of love with you! So, now here's me hoping, my guess is that you are finished with Eric and that means you're willing to give me a shot, yes?"

Scully stared at Mulder for a minute, contemplating her response.

"First of all, I never said that I would give you a chance if I stopped dating Eric. However, secondly, I think that you may be too smart for your own good most of the time, which makes me love you even more than I already do," she told him, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"Ha ha! I knew it!" Mulder picked her up and spun her around. He set her back down and kissed her again, this time she let him, and she even deepened the kiss.

Scully pulled back. "As much as I would love to spend our work day kissing instead of working, I think that we better head on out. We're way behind schedule."

"Damn work days... but I think you're right," he said, a smile permanently plastered on his face.

"Again, why do I let you get away with everything? Why do I always give into you?"

Mulder picked up her bag and ushered her through the door. He hugged her to his side and kissed her forehead.

"Because I'm irresistible!"

* * *

A/N: Yay for MSR!!! For those of you who have seen the movie "Wedding Crashers," Sack Lodge (played by Bradley Cooper) was my inspiration for Eric. If you haven't seen the movie, it's frickin' hilarious and I highly recommend it!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Finally... This one took a bit of thinking! Enjoy!

* * *

Mulder spend most of his time on their work trip trying to get Scully to have sex with him.

"If you spent more time actually working than trying to seduce me, we would get to go home sooner. Focus, Mulder!" she would tell him, sometimes laughing, sometimes annoyed.

Eventually, they solved the case. No x-file. Just an abnormal amount of sleep-walking teenagers who would mess up their homes while their parents slept. However, Mulder did believe that there was a ghost in the town's library, but he had no way to prove it. Just personal experiences, which was really no proof at all!

So they went home empty-handed. Scully rather miffed at the fact that she had just wasted a lot of her valuable time.

"Think about it this way," he was telling her on their drive back home, "if this case hadn't have come up, then you would still be with Eric, and I would still be heartbroken because I would have never come to pick you up, and Eric would not have had the chance to prove what an asshole he really is! See, it all worked out!"

Scully stared at him from the passenger seat. "You really are amazing, aren't you? There is no end to your arrogance, is there?"

"My arrogance is only a by-product of my brilliance, Scully," he explained, smiling. "I am never wrong."

"Just for that little comment, I _will_ prove you wrong someday, on something!"

"I doubt that! But you can try," he said, smiling at her. "You're really cute when you're annoyed, by the way."

"Is that why you always try to annoy me?" she asked. "Because I'm sure that you would like some of my other emotions a lot better. Annoyance won't get you very far on that goal you've been working so hard all week to achieve..."

"Point taken. No more annoying Scully," he told himself.

They pulled into her apartment building's parking lot.

"So... can I come in?" he asked, putting his arm over her shoulders like a bad movie date.

"How about I come over to your place later? I really need to shower in my own shower, and I haven't actually broken up with Eric yet, which really needs to be done."

"You can call him now if you'd like," he said, handing her his cell phone and smiling.

"Mulder. Don't be a jerk. I'm not breaking up with him on the phone!"

"Yeah, I think you should just email him."

"Mulder! That's rude! I'll stop by his place on they way to yours and do it in person," she decided.

"Why?!" he whined.

"Because it's the nice thing to do."

"Fine. Can I go with you?"

"Absolutely not! I'll cal you when I'm on the way to yours," she told him, getting out of the car. "Pop the trunk."

Scully pulled her bag out, slammed the trunk shut, waved Mulder away, and made her way up to her apartment. The first thing she did was call Eric. All she said was that they needed to talk, but the way he sounded let her know that he had an idea of what was coming. He agreed to have her over.

She took a quick shower and slipped on some comfortable clothes- jeans and a fitted white v-neck t-shirt. She was happy that she could dress so comfortable when she was going to see Mulder. Eric always made her feel like a trophy girlfriend and wanted her to dress the part as well. It wasn't only the way she dressed that she was relieved with, it was the fact that she knew that no matter what she couldn't mess up with Mulder. _I guess this is what it's like when you date your best friend, _she thought and smiled to herself.

Scully climbed the stairs to Eric's condo building. She knocked on his door and waited. She was really nervous. Even though she had no interest in being with Eric- he really was a jerk- she still hated doing this! Soon enough Eric answered the door.

"Come on in," he told her.

"Um, I'm actually going to stay out here. This won't take long," she explained, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and back again.

"Look, I know what you're going to say. And I still can't believe that _you_ are breaking up with _me_! I mean, I'm rich and very good looking. And you're going to dump me for that poor, skinny, average-looking Mulder! Come on! I know you were dating up with me, but now you'll be dating down!"

She gave him a confused look. "I'm not sure that I know what you mean..."

"I guess you really are stupid. Let me spell this out for ya: _you_ are just average, _he_ is below average, and _I_ am well above average. I can have any girl I want and for some reason I settled for you," he told her, rather snottily.

"Settled?"

"Yeah. Settled. And though you are better looking than him, he will soon get sick of your shit, just like I did. You're fucking crazy! I feel sorry for any guy that gets stuck with your shit!"

Scully smiled at him. "You know, Eric, you may be good looking, but any girl worth anything will see right past your bullshit. Hopefully quicker than I did! So, as I can see that you actually don't have _anyone_, you have fun with your hand and a box of tissues tonight, while I go have sex with my new boyfriend!"

She turned around and happily trotted down the steps, knowing that she had left a stunned Eric behind her. So far this night was going great! Now she was on her way to Mulder's. It was just going to get better!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: And another...

* * *

Scully knocked on Mulder's door, super excited about the way she had handled herself. She didn't let Eric's belittling get to her, which she was very proud of! Her pride quickly faded away, however, when it was Diana Fowley who answered the door.

"What are you doing here?" Scully blurted out.

"None of your business," Diana told her.

"But it is! I'm his- uh- well, his partner," Scully recovered clumsily, knowing very well that she couldn't tell Diana the truth.

"Well, this has nothing to do with you. I just needed Fox alone. I'll tell him you dropped by."

"I'll tell him myself!" Scully said indignantly, making a move to go into the apartment.

Diana put her hand on the door frame, her arm blocking Scully. "He's in the shower. I'll tell him you stopped by," she said, shutting the door in her face.

Scully stood there shocked and confused. _I guess I should have called like I said I would,_ she thought. What was she supposed to do? She could go home. She could call later. She could knock again to let Diana know that she wasn't going anywhere without seeing Mulder. She could use her key and just walk in. Once she was in, was she just going to sit there and play nice with Diana. Was she going to confront Mulder and ask what the fuck was going on? She didn't know what to do! So, she stood there.

Then she got mad. _What the fuck is going on?!_ she thought. _She doesn't have the right to keep me out!_ Scully banged on the door.

Diana opened it again.

"God, you're annoying!" she said. "Just go away! We're busy!"

"I'm not going anywhere until I talk to Mulder," Scully told her, crossing her arms.

As if on cue, Mulder appeared at the door, rubbing his wet hair with a towel, no sign of welcome on his face.

"I'll call you later," he told her. "You need to go," he said softly, not meeting her eyes. He gave her a soft, fake smile and shut the door.

_WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!_ she wanted to yell. She went home instead.

She opened her freezer and dug out some orange sorbet popsicles. She flopped down onto her couch and turned on the tv. She flipped through the channels, finally settling on the movie 'Shakespeare in Love.' She watched about 20 minutes of it before wanting to throw the remote at the tv.

"Asshole," she called Joseph Fiennes' Shakespeare, and turned off the tv.

Scully wandered around her apartment, cleaning, re-cleaning in some cases, various rooms and objects. She waited for Mulder to call, like he said he would, but he never did. Finally, at 3:48 am she went to bed, thankful that tomorrow was Sunday, and she didn't have to get up in 3 hours.

Normally, she would be angry that Mulder didn't follow through on his word, but she was mainly just worried and, above all else, hurt. For what seemed like the billionth time she thought, _What's going on?! _

The sun rose, and so did she. Scully needed to go running. It was going to be her 'release of stress' run. Then she was going to church. Well, maybe she would go to church. She tied her shoes and debated with herself over the fact that she should go to church, though she didn't want to go. The adult Scully telling the child Scully that it was the right thing to do.

By the end of her 6-mile run, the child Scully had won the argument. She was too tired to function properly in public. On her run, she nearly got hit by a car and almost ran into a parked one. She didn't see either one. That was a bad sign that her mind wasn't with her today. It really was a good thing that she didn't have to work today! She would for sure have gotten shot or something.

Scully made her way up the steps and to her door and let herself in. She was pealing off her sweaty clothes when she heard a knock at the door. She sighed, and stopped mid-strip down. She looked at herself in the mirror, she was only wearing her panties and a sports bra. She tugged her shorts back on and jogged to the door. She knew who would be behind it when she opened it. Sure enough, there stood Mulder. She held the door open for him to come in. He silently walked past her and took a seat on her couch. She shut the door and rolled her eyes at it before joining Mulder in her sitting room. She just stood in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Well?" she asked, clearly annoyed with him.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you," he told her.

"No, you'll _be_ sorry in a bit! I want to know what happened, Mulder!" she demanded.

"I can't tell you," he said quietly.

"Why?"

"I just can't," was his answer.

"Fine. Then we have nothing to talk about, and I am tired of fighting with you-"

"Then don't fight with me! I'm sorry that things didn't go the way _you_ wanted last night, but think about how hard it is for me to not be able to talk to you," Mulder said, standing up so he could look down into her blue eyes.

"I just don't understand-"

"No. You don't. And I can't make you understand. Just trust me. I know that you don't like or trust Diana, and that it didn't look good with her there last night, but trust _me,_" he urged. "I would do nothing to hurt you. You know that."

Scully uncrossed her arms and let them hang at her sides. He could tell that she was softening. "I just wish that you could tell me-"

"Well, I can't. Let it go."

"Mulder... can you at least tell me if I should be sad or scared or angry?"

"No," he simply said.

"Why not?!" she crossed her arms again, her protective walls going back up.

Mulder sighed, "I'm done talking about this."

"Well, _I'm_ not!"

"Yes. You are. I'm not going to tell you anything. You don't have to know everything. Some things are none of your business!" he told her, annoyed at her persistence.

Mulder could tell by look on her face that he had hurt her feelings, but as fast as the look had come it had gone, and her expression was now completely unreadable.

"I'm going to take a shower. You can leave. You can stay. Do whatever you want. You do anyway," she shrugged, giving up and walked into the bathroom.

The shower gave her time to think and to calm down. Why was it when she was finally happy that something came up to take that happiness away? Why couldn't _he_ trust _her_? He was always asking for her trust. She always gave it. She'd like a little trust back!

When she finished her shower she came to two conclusions about his secretive activities. He was either protecting her, or he really just didn't want her to know what was going on. Either way, she didn't like it. She didn't think that she could trust him this time.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**: Oh, Mulder... You're in trouble... :)  
I'm going to blatantly steal a line from Wedding Crashers*, just to let you all know.

**Rating**: this one might get a little **M** towards the end... oh well!

* * *

Scully was drying herself off when an idea occurred to her. _Why haven't I thought of this sooner?_ Her new idea would have solved many of her problems with Mulder. She would have gotten her way, no doubt!

She wanted him to admit what was going on, which he never would. _Unless my idea works..._ Scully walked into her bedroom to find Mulder lounging on her bed. Mulder got up when she walked in and was about to leave the room so she could get dressed. She grabbed Mulder's arm and turned him around to face her. She smile and slipped her hands behind his neck. She pressed her body against his and whispered with her lips against his ear, "I don't want you to go just yet."

"Okay... what do you want to do?" he asked, a little nervously considering that Scully had just done a 180 with her emotions.

She pushed him back down onto the bed. He propped himself up on his elbows and raised an eyebrow at her, a slow smile spreading across his face. She crawled on top of him and straddled his lap, facing him. She wrapped her arms behind his neck, and one of her hands played with the back of his hair. He closed his eyes and savored this moment.

"So, what do _you_ want to do?" she asked, nuzzling his neck.

"I can think of a few things..." he managed to get out.

"A few things?" she whispered seductively, placing soft slow kisses along his jawline.

"Are you naked under that towel?" he asked, swallowing and trying hard to concentrate, though he could feel all of the blood in his body moving to a special part of his anatomy.

"Completely," she said, and covered his mouth with hers, gently sucking on his bottom lip.

Scully removed her towel and let Mulder see her completely naked for the first time.

"I really want to give myself to you, but I'm not sure that I can concentrate. You know, with all of your secretiveness and the fact that obviously something bad is going on... I just think that I'm losing my sex drive," she told him innocently.

Scully made a move to get off of his lap. He grabbed her waist before she could actually get up.

"What?! No. You can keep doing what you were doing. I'll tell you later. When it's safe," he pleaded.

"Not good enough," she said, slipping off the bed.

"Come back! You are such a tease! That is so unfair! You can't do that to me!" Mulder went through a whole range of emotions.

Scully dug through her underwear drawer and pulled out the sexiest pair of bra and panties that she owned and began to put them on. She knew that she had failed. If she couldn't get porn-addicted Mulder to spill it while she was straddling him naked, then she would never get him to tell her. However, she could make him _really_ sorry about it.

Realization dawned on him. "You tried to trick me!" He would have hopped off of the bed and gone over to her, but he was a bit incapacitated, and he thought that it was a better idea to stay seated. "You little Delilah!"

"Delilah? I haven't betrayed you!" she turned back to him.

"Well, you're a temptress!" he pointed out.

"Well, I'm not a good one," she said, sitting next to him on the bed in her black, lacey lingerie.

"Oh, you are, my body responded to your little show, just not my mind... well, not completely," he smiled at her, knowing that he had won somehow, but still felt like he lost.

"Nice," Scully said, referring to his erection.

"It's your fault, you little temptress!"

"Is that my new nickname?" she asked, being rather smart-assed.

"It sure is. I'll make sure to refer to you as 'temptress' the next time we're in Skinner's office," he smiled triumphantly at her.

She took a pillow and hit him in the face with it. He grabbed the pillow and stuffed it behind his head. Scully then got serious.

"Mulder, it just hurts my feelings that you won't trust me as much as I trust you. I mean, we love each other, right? You know that I'm here for you and would try to help you in any way-"

"Let me stop you there," he interrupted. "If the sex attempt didn't work, what makes you think that the guilt trip will?" he told her, smiling.

"Ugh!"

"Face it, Scully, I know you too well, and I've seen you do the guilt trip thing to your mother too many times for it to ever work on me! If you'd like, though, you can keep seducing me, I may just tell you what you want to know... Go on. Take your clothes back off." Mulder had the biggest smile on his face. He knew that he was getting to her. He loved their banter; however, he was slightly afraid of what she was going to do to him.

Scully slapped Mulder in the stomach. "You're an ass!" Scully moved to get off of the bed, but Mulder caught her wrist. He pulled her back to him, flipping her so she was underneath him.

"Can't get away now." He leaned down and kissed her.

She kissed him back, pulling him closer to her. She had her hands laced through the hair on the back of his head, and she wrapped her legs around his midsection.

When the kiss ended, Scully told him, "I was really looking forward to doing this last night."

"We're doing this now. Isn't that better? I try not to live in the past, Scully." Mulder then pressed his lips back to hers.

Pretty soon they were both naked. Scully had managed to weasel her way back on top of him. She kissed him passionately and slid the tip of his penis into her. Then she stopped, and pulled him back out.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he stuttered, still feeling pleasure go through his body, but also feeling a bit panicked.

"I just thought that I'd play a little game called 'just the tip, just for a second, just to see how it feels'* to see if you'd change your mind about trusting me."

"Yeah. I completely trust you, and I'll tell you what you want to know. When we're done playing 'the whole penis, for a few minutes, so I can finally have sex!' I really want to play that game," he said, still sounding slightly panicked. "Please, Scully, you're ruining our first sexual experience together!"

"I'm not falling for your guilt trip either, Mulder. But your game does sound more fun than my game," she smiled down at him.

He flipped her over and positioned himself between her legs. "I'm taking control away from you. You could be a professional torturer. So, just lay back and let me do all the work."

She laughed, but happily agreed. Things were finally the way they were supposed to be. Well, almost... Mulder had better keep his word this time, or else he _really_ would be sorry. And so would his balls!

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I guess that's their version of foreplay. Crazy FBI agents!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**: Sorry for being graphic in the last chapter. This one is tamer. Though I hope you all don't have weak stomachs, this one feels like a roller coaster ride!

* * *

"Alright," Mulder began. "I give in, but only because _that_ was amazing!"

Scully was cuddled against Mulder, with her head on his chest.

"Mulder, you will tell me, but not now. I have a feeling that it is something bad, and I don't want it to ruin this moment."

"Good call. I already know that you will _not_ like what I have to say," he told her, playing with her hair.

"But you _will_ tell me."

"I will. Just later. Maybe after dinner," he suggested.

"Are you planning to stay here all day?" she asked, looking up at him.

"And all night," he smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.

"Well, in that case, let's get up and do something!" she said, getting out of bed.

Mulder grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back into bed. "But we just did _do_ something!" he protested.

"We are not staying inside all day! It's a beautiful day outside. Let's at least go take a walk in the park or something. Please!" she begged.

He sighed. "Okay, fine. As long as we make it back here by the end of the night."

Scully laughed and threw his jeans at him. "Get dressed!"

"You get dressed!" he retorted.

"I will, but I'm starving! I need food," she told him, grabbed her robe, and headed into the kitchen. "Do you what anything?" she yelled.

"Uh, sure!" he yelled back. He pulled his gray t-shirt on and headed into the kitchen to join her. "I can make my own food, Scully."

"Okay. Get whatever you'd like," she told him, spreading hummus onto a piece of whole wheat bread.

Mulder smiled at how health conscious she always was. He thoughts went briefly back to Eric and how he was a match for Scully's love of all things healthy, but that was the only thing that Eric was a match for. Mulder figured that he'd suck it up and try some of her healthy food.

Mulder and Scully made matching hummus, tomato, and turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Mulder had to admit that it was pretty good. When they were finished, Scully changed into what she was wearing the night before when she didn't actually get to hang out with Mulder- jeans and a white v-neck she was ready they headed out to the local park.

They walked hand in hand, doing some people-watching as they went. Mulder pulled Scully towards a gazebo, and they sat on a bench.

"I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you what Diana wanted," he said quietly. He knew she wouldn't hurt him in public.

Mulder's hands were suddenly very interesting to him as he was staring at them instead of Scully.

"There's an experiment that Diana wants to do, and she asked me if I would... participate," he chose his words carefully.

"Absolutely not!" Scully immediately told him.

"I know that you don't trust her, but I do," he said, looking into Scully's eyes. "Please just understand that this is important, and nothing bad is going to happen to me."

"Yeah, that's what people say in scary movies. Then they die," she told him, trying to hold back her anger. "You weren't going to talk to me about this? At least let me have a chance to give my opinion?"

"I knew what your opinion would be, Scully."

"Mulder! I'm not letting you do this!" she said firmly, standing up so he had to look up at her.

"I'm sorry, Scully, but you don't really have a say in this. It's my decision," he told her, getting to his feet as well.

Scully turned her back on him and walked to the opposite side of the gazebo. She turned back around and leaned on the railing. "I do have a say in this," she told him. "It is your choice. Now I'm going to give you another choice. Either don't go trough with this experiment, or lose me because I can't go through this with you."

"Scully..." Mulder walked over to her. "Please don't do this."

So, here she was again. Asking Mulder to choose between her and Diana. Things had seemed to come full circle.

"Maybe I'm being selfish and ridiculous, but I don't trust her, and you can't ask me to go through this. To wait around while she experiments on you! It's not right!" Her voice betrayed that she was getting angry, and she was desperately trying to talk him out of this.

"See! This is why I didn't want to tell you! I knew that you would overreact!"

"Overreact?! Mulder, let me ask you something. If I told you someone wanted to experiment on me, and I was going to let them do it, how would you feel?"

"This is different, Scully."

"No! It is NOT different, Mulder! It is the same thing! How would you feel?!" she demanded that he answer the question.

"If it were Diana, I would trust that you both had made the right decision," he told her.

She scoffed at him. "Well, I guess that you're not as selfish as I am. Or maybe you care less. Either way, you still have a choice to make. Me or her. Again," she told him, staring him in the face. "I'd advise that you choose carefully because you're about out of second and third and fourth chances with me, Mulder."

"Scully, it's not that I care less. I do care about how you feel. But you are being selfish and slightly ridiculous. I _know _her. She wouldn't do anything to harm me. Why can't you see that?"

"Do you want me to beg, Mulder? Because I _will_ beg. I love you more than I can ever say, and I will do anything to stop you from doing this," she told him with tears in her eyes.

"Scully, it's important that I do this," he tried, once again, to explain. "Nothing bad is going to happen. Please, just trust me."

"Is that your choice?" she asked, wiping a few stray tears away. "You're choosing her? Again?"

Scully could feel that familiar pain in her chest that crept up on her whenever she got upset over him. Maybe it was the feeling of her heart breaking.

"I'm not choosing her _over_ you. I would never choose anyone over you. I'm just choosing the right thing for me to do."

Scully nodded. "I understand," she quietly told him. "And I hope that you can I understand that I can't do this."

"Do what?" The question slipped out, though he already had an idea of what she was talking about.

"I can't let you keep ripping me apart like this!" she blurted out the real truth.

Mulder wasn't expecting that answer.

"This whole thing scares me. I'm afraid for you. Can't you see that?" she said, her tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

He hated to see her cry, but he had to make her understand. It really was important. It was for the x-files. It was for the truth. "Scully, your fear is like a someone's fear of clowns or spiders. It's not real. It won't hurt you or me."

"Well, some spiders are poisonous, Mulder."

He understood the full meaning of that statement.

"Will it make you feel better if I call Diana and tell her that I need to think about it longer?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Scully buried her face in his chest. "No," came her muffled answer. "I'll feel better if you tell that bitch that she can go to hell with her damn experiment."

Mulder released her and stepped back. He had never heard her be so hateful in the six years that he had know her. "Scully! Now you're being a jerk."

She shrugged. "If I have to be a jerk to make you understand how I feel, then I'll be a jerk."

"I understand, Scully, but your feelings have nothing to do with pursuing the truth! If it were up to you, you'd lock me away in your apartment and never let me out! You're trying to hold me back again!"

If she was going to be a jerk, then so was he.

She stood there silent for a while, which scared him- the calm before the storm. Finally, she nodded.

"You're right," she choked out. He now realized she was silent because she was trying not to cry again. "If it meant saving you, from her, from yourself, then I would hold you back. And you don't want that-"

"No. I don't," he confirmed curtly, crossing his arms to let her know that he wouldn't back down.

"Then all I can do is let you go," she said, giving up. She was just too tired to fight with him and his stubbornness anymore.

"Let me go?" he questioned. "You're going to give in and let me do the experiment? Just like that?"

"Yes and no, Mulder. I'm breaking up with you. Our long awaited romance lasted all of 7 days. I hope this experiment is worth it."

Scully headed down the steps of the gazebo and started walking back towards her apartment. He jogged after her and took her by the arm to stop her. He moved around so that he was in front of her.

"You can't just leave me," he told her.

"Watch me," she said, escaping from his grip and continued to walk.

"No," he said, following her. He walked beside her, easily keeping up with her short, quick strides. "If you love me you'll stick by me no matter what."

"If you love me you won't put me through this," she retorted.

"This isn't about you, though."

"It isn't?" Scully stopped walking so she could look up into his eyes. "Because I thought that it was always you and me, together. Especially now. But I guess I was mistaken," she said and began walking again.

"It is you and me! But this is different. It's- it's- damn, you're driving me crazy!" he exclaimed, following her into the elevator in her building.

"Glad that I can reciprocate the feeling," she told him, scathingly.

"Why is this such a big deal to you? Are you jealous or something?" Mulder was honestly trying to figure her out.

"You think I'm jealous?" she questioned, as her voice went an octave higher.

Uh-oh, it was one of those girl trick questions. Like 'does this dress make me look fat?' No answer was a good answer, but there was an answer that was better than the others.

"Are you?" he answered with a question.

"You think I'm jealous! I'm NOT jealous. I'm worry. I'm scared. I'm furious! But I am not JEALOUS!" she yelled at him, getting out of the elevator.

"Ugh! What do you want from me, Scully?!" he said, frustrated, as he followed her to her door.

She fumbled with her key a bit before she finally unlocked her door and opened it.

"Nothing. You will always do what you want to do. I realize that now. And I've spent way too much of my time crying over you and wishing that you would just listen to me. I'm tired, and I'm finished with it. When you feel like thinking about someone other than yourself, and you're willing to give up a little bit of your stubbornness, then I hope we can be together. I love you, and I always will, but I can't keep putting my life on hold for you and your crazy schemes. Look what they have gotten me: a dead sister, a barren womb, almost dying on what you say was a spaceship, and us, always fighting. I can't do it anymore."

"Scully..."

"Goodbye, Mulder. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at work." And with that she shut her door and locked it.

Mulder stood in the hall for a few minutes debating whether to knock on her door and demand that she let him back in to talk, or to use his key and just walk in and apologize for everything. But he couldn't bring himself to do either of those things. So he left instead. He dug into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a familiar number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey, Diana. It's me, Fox. When did you want to start...?"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**: Men! They can be so stupid... Thanks for the reviews!!!! Your pestering helps me to keep going :)

Some mention of Arcadia. No spoilers, though.

* * *

Scully knew that she had been ambushed. She heard the quick slamming of the door and the sliding of a desk in front of it. She turned to see Mulder leaning against the desk, blocking her way back out.

"What _are_ you doing?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Not letting you escape," he answered, staring her down.

"What if someone comes down here? Like Skinner? What will they think is going on in here?"

"I don't care," he shrugged. "I only care what you think."

"You do." It was more of a disbelieving statement than a question.

"I do," he confirmed. "I called Diana after I left you to tell her that I couldn't do the experiment."

Scully just stood there studying him to see if he was lying to her. He was looking her straight in the eye. Nope, not lying. However, she was still afraid to be happy about it, just in case he had something else up his sleeve. This couldn't be the only reason that he had barricaded them in the office.

"Well...?" he asked expectantly.

"Well, what?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I did what you wanted me to do," he said, standing straight up.

"Mulder, I wanted you to do it because you wanted to, not because I wanted you to."

He looked very confused. "Is that girl-talk? Because I don't understand what you just said."

"You should have done it because it was the right thing to do, not because I told you to," she rephrased.

"But I did do it because you told me to." Mulder was still confused. Shouldn't she be happy? They should be making-out like teenagers by now! "I'm sorry, but I still don't understand what you're trying to tell me. I think that there is a barrier- you're speaking in girl. So let me just ask you, are you happy? Or not?"

"I want to be happy, but I don't trust you..." she said, looking him up and down skeptically. "I think you're up to something, and that makes me nervous."

Mulder smirked a bit. She was good. He was up to something. He walked over to her, put his fingertips under her chin, and lightly lifted her face to his. He kissed her lips lightly and slowly. She couldn't help but to kiss him back. She wasn't weak, but her made her feel that way. He pulled back and looked into her eyes.

"I love you, Dana Scully," he whispered.

"I love you too, Fox Mulder," she whispered back.

"And I would do anything for you. Please forgive me. I am so sorry that I ever hurt you. I will try to never do it again. You are everything that matters to me, and I don't ever want to lose you. Even if someone gave me a live alien to take to the President himself, I still wouldn't give you up!"

She laughed, which was a good sign that what he was saying was working.

"We have been through so much together, and, as I have told you before, you owe me nothing, and I owe you everything. And I-" he took a deep breath and dropped to one knee, "I want to marry you."

Scully was shocked. She knew that something was going on with him, but this was not what she was expecting. "But-but we've only been together for a few days..." was all she could reply.

Mulder frowned and stood back up. "I guess that's a no."

"No! I mean, yes! Yes! Yes is my answer. I want to marry you," she told him happily, stumbling over her words.

He heart melting smile returned. "Really?"

Scully grabbed his face and kissed him. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and tightly held him to her, as if she was afraid to let go.

"Can't breathe," he joked.

She loosen her grip on him, and he kissed her again.

"I know that it wasn't very romantic to do this at work, but this _is_ where we first met," Mulder smiled down at her.

Scully looked around the room, different memories flooding her mind. "It was a good proposal."

"Okay, I know you think it's weird that we've only been _dating_ for a few days, but if you think about it we've been together for almost six years! That's better than most couples. And we've been through more stuff that makes us stronger as a couple."

"Mulder, stop explaining things to me. I already said yes," she said, completely amused at his need to make everything right.

"Hhmm... Can we consummate our engagement in here, too?"

"First of all, you don't consummate engagements. Secondly, NO! Not even an option! Ever! So get that dirty little thought out of your head!" she told him.

"Doesn't hurt to ask, does it?" he smiled. "I'm sure that my desk would-"

"No!" she said, horrified that he was still on the subject.

"Okay... But the offer is always out there. Just so you know," he said, releasing her from his embrace.

"Thanks, I guess. But it's never going to happen," she told him, smiling. "Now... do I get a ring or what?!"

Mulder laughed. "Of course! I just thought that you would like to go with me to pick it out."

Just then there was a bang on the door.

"What are you two doing in there?!" Skinner's voice bellowed.

"Told you!" Scully said, bragging that she was right.

Mulder scooted the desk away and opened the door.

"Hello, sir," he greeted Skinner innocently.

Skinner entered the office and looked around as if in search for something out of place or to see if they were hiding something. Then he looked the both of them up and down. He handed a file to Mulder.

"I expect the two of you on the road and in a plane within one hour," he said, curtly. Skinner headed back to the door, then turned to look at them again. "Her lipstick doesn't look good on you, Mulder. Have a nice day," he smiled, and shut the door behind him.

Scully and Mulder looked at each other before Mulder coughed and began to study the file. Scully walked over to him and started to rub the lipstick off of his lips with her thumbs. He swatted her hands away.

"I happen to like the way your lipstick looks on me," he told her, smiling. Mulder looked up from the file. "They want us to go undercover as a married couple. That shouldn't be too hard, now should it?!" he said happily.

"Is it an x-file?" she asked, now curious.

"It appears that it could be. A couple has gone missing from one of those weird planned out communities. No one saw them leave. They just seemed to disappear. And, apparently, they're not the first couple to just vanish from this particular community."

"Interesting," Scully stated.

"Very," Mulder agreed. "It's more interesting that they're trusting us to be in a house. By ourselves. With a big bed. Acting as a married couple."

Scully rolled her eyes at him, knowing very well what he was insinuating.

"I love my job!" Mulder exclaimed, before passionately kissing his fiancee again, not caring if someone came through the door!

* * *

A/N: See? Happiness happens :)


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: This just might be turning into something that I didn't intent for it to be. But the ideas keep coming. Plus, roller coaster rides are more fun when there are twists and loops and they turn your world upside-down....

* * *

Mulder and Scully walked into his apartment and dropped their bags.

"Glad that case went well," he told her, going into the kitchen

Scully shut the door, went into his bedroom, and flung herself onto the bed.

"So. Tired."

"How are you tired?" he asked, joining her on the bed. He was eating some chips out of the bag. "All you did was sleep on the plane."

"How are you hungry?" she retorted. "All you did was eat. The whole time!"

"I'm a man," he said, as if he were explaining something new to her.

She promptly hit him with a pillow. He laughed, put the bad of chips down and laid down on the bed next to her.

"Do you want to go look at rings tomorrow?" he asked.

A smile immediately formed on Scully's face. "I would love to!"

"You can get anything you want," he told her and kissed her cheek. "I have some money saved up."

"Good thing for you that I'm a practical girl with simple tastes."

"Not in men. I'm pretty complex."

"Oh, Mulder," she said, stroking his hair. "You're mistaking complex with crazy."

"Hey," he warned. "I'll show you crazy!"

He rolled on top of her, covering her face and neck with kisses.

***

A dark figure stood alone on a dimly lit dock. The ringing of a phone pierced the quietness of the night.

"Hello?" the man answered.

"They're back," the voice on the other line told him.

"Good," he replied. "What do you want done with them?"

"He refused to do the experiment. We need him."

"I understand, but what would you like me to do about it?" the man asked again.

"Make him participate," the voice ordered.

"How?"

"Find his weakness."

"I think we both know what that is," the man said.

"Good. Then you know what has to be done," the voice said, then there was a click, and the line went dead.

"Pity," the man said to himself and threw the phone into the water.

***

"What about this one?" Mulder asked, tapping the glass of a jewelry case.

"Too big," Scully told him.

"I love you," he commented.

She laughed. "Told you that you were lucky to find a girl who likes practical jewelry."

"What about this one?" he asked, pointing to a simple, yet elegant ring. "Can we see that one?" he asked the sales lady.

"Of course."

The lady smiled and unlocked the case. She pulled the ring out and handed it to Mulder. He took Scully's hand and slipped it onto her ring finger. It fit perfectly.

"So... what do you think?"

She had been silent the whole time since he spotted the ring. She thought the that the ring was beautiful. It was a marquise diamond set into a white gold band with two smaller pear-shaped diamonds on either side. The ring he picked out really was perfect. However, she took a peek at the price and didn't want him spending that much money on her.

"It's nice," she simply said.

"Nice?" he asked, looking at her skeptically. "Come on, admit it. You love it."

She sighed. "I do, but..." she trailed of.

"But... what?" he asked. "Can you give us a second?" he asked the sales lady and handed the ring back to her.

"Tell you what, I'll just leave the ring right here on the counter for you. That way you all can study it some more if you'd like," she told them kindly.

"That would be nice. Thank you," Mulder replied.

She walked away, and when Scully thought that it was safe she told him, "I do love it, but it's a little expensive."

"Expensive? It's not really expensive. Have you been out looking for engagement rings lately? Trust me, it's really not that bad."

Scully smiled up at him. "Have you been looking for engagement rings?"

"I was," he confessed. "But they were kind of expensive. So I figured that if I was going to spend the money that I would want to get something that you loved. Hence, me bringing you along."

"You were also lucky that you waited until I said yes," she pointed out.

"Oh, there was never any doubt of that in my mind!"

"Well, if you're sure that it's not too much, I really do love that ring. It's actually very perfect," she told him honestly.

"Good! Because I think that it's perfect, too!"

Mulder waved the sales lady back over. "We'll take it."

After ring shopping, the two of them went to a small cafe for lunch.

"When are we going to tell Skinner?" Scully asked, biting into her sandwich.

"I think that you should tell Skinner. He likes you better."

"Mulder! This is something that we need to do together," she scolded him.

"I know. I was joking," he laughed.

"Where are we going to live?" she wondered out loud.

"Whoa. Slow down. Let's actually get married first," he told her. After a pause he added, "Obviously, your place! It's much bigger and nicer than mine."

She laughed. "That's true. Could you image trying to fit into your place?"

"It would be cozy," he said, taking her hand and kissing it.

"That's the polite way of putting it."

They continued their lunch with some classic banter, the kind that built their friendship and turned it into love. A comment that Mulder said during their much loved bantering, involving Skinner, had Scully's mind working. She had the sudden thought of what would happen if their enemies found out about them. She didn't want to know the answer.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Sorry it took a while to update. I've been a busy bee! Well, not as busy as that douche-bag bee well all know and hate more than any x-file villain... Anywho! On with the story! :)

* * *

"Thanks for meeting me," Diana said to Mulder as she blew into her piping hot mug of coffee.

He had agreed to meet her at a small, out of the way cafe. Neither one of them really wanted to be spotted during this little meeting.

"My answer is still no," he told her, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Fox, I thought that you wanted to do this. We're so close."

"I didn't said that I didn't want to do it, but I can't hurt her again. I'm already hurting her by just being here."

"She let you come?" she questioned, shocked.

"No. She doesn't know, but in my mind I know that this would hurt her."

"Look, what if I told you that it would hurt her more, in the long run, if you didn't help me out?" she told him seriously with a slight bit of warning in her tone.

"Is that a threat?" he hissed.

"No," she stated. "Not from me," she amended.

Mulder leaned back in his chair, waiting for her to continue.

"You above anyone should know that there is more to this than just you and me and this experiment. There are bigger players in this game. And I don't want anything... bad to happen because _you_ won't play ball."

"This still sounds like a threat to me," he told her calmly.

"Then think of it as a threat if you'd like. I just _need_ you to do this experiment."

"No," he said, standing up and tossing some money on the table. "Like I said, I won't hurt her. I'm all out of chances with her anyway. There's no way that I'll do it now." He began to walk away.

"Wait!" Diana called to stop him. She stood up and walked over to him. "You don't really mean definitely no. You want to think about it, don't you?"

"No, I mean definitely no." Mulder gave her a smile and turned and walked away.

Diana's cellphone began to ring as soon as he was far enough away.

"Shit," she muttered. "Yes?" she answered, knowing who it would be.

"You tried, Diana," the voice said. "Now it's Alex's turn to try out his method."

"You don't have to-" she began, but it was too late, the line was dead.

***

Scully was juggling her numerous bags of groceries as she entered her apartment.

"Need any help with that," a familiar voice offered.

"What are you doing here?! Get out!" she ordered.

Alex Krycek stepped forward and took a bag out of her hand.

"I'm here to help you," he told her.

"I don't need your help," she spat at him defiantly.

He walked over and put the bag on her kitchen table. Scully peaked back into the hallway and shut the door when she didn't see anyone else lurking around.

"Why do you want to help me? I have nothing that needs to be helped," she said, placing the other bags on the table.

"Don't you?" he asked, smirking.

"What has Mulder done?" she asked and crossed her arms, realizing that Mulder probably had done something stupid and gotten her involved as well.

"Has he mentioned an experiment to you?" Krycek asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"You told him he couldn't participate. Is that correct?"

She sighed. "You know it is."

"I need for you to tell him that he should participate," he told her.

"Absolutely not!" Scully exclaimed.

Krycek let out an exaggerated breath of air. "Oh Dana, I knew that would be your answer."

He suddenly lunged for her and plunged the needle of a syringe into her arm. He injected her with something as she fought to get out of his firm grip. She stared at him in shock. Soon her vision was getting fuzzy. It took no time at all for Scully to fall unconscious at Krycek's feet.

"I gave you a choice," he told her motionless body, smiling.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: SO sorry for the update delay. I feel bad that I have left Scully unconscious for so long... She'll be VERY unhappy when she wakes up :)

* * *

Scully woke up with a slight headache. She was in a room with no windows and only one door. She had been placed in a simple, but soft bed. She studied the room to see if there was anything that she recognized. Nope. Nothing. She willed herself to remember how she got there.

_Think, Dana..._she told herself. It took about a second for her memories to rush back to her. _Krycek!_

She hopped off of the bed and headed towards the door. Before she could reach it, however, it swung open. There stood Alex Krycek.

"Dana," he greeted her as he entered the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. "Nice to see you're awake." He locked the door with a key.

"What am I doing here, Krycek?" she immediately asked.

"What are you doing here? Well, I'm keeping you safe," he told her.

"You? You would never help me," she stated. "Or Mulder," she added.

"You don't know me that well... I was sent to kill you. Again. I, however, think that you are more useful alive."

Scully backed away from him. The look in his eyes made her feel uneasy.

"What do you want from me?"

"I just want to keep you here. I want to keep you safe. However, Mulder needs to do what's told," he told her, taking a seat on the bed.

"This is about that damn experiment, isn't it?!" she asked, now very angry. "He won't do it! I won't let him."

"You don't have a choice. It's either him or you."

"Me, then. Take me!"

Krycek chuckled. "It's not that simple. You're not ready for it. He is."

"What does that mean? _Make_ me ready for it!"

Krycek shook his head, amused at her selflessness. He couldn't understand it.

"Alex..." Scully began, speaking more calmly. She took a seat on the bed next to him. "Help me. I want to save him. Use me if you have to, but, please, spare him."

He shrugged. "It's not up to me, Dana. I would help you if I could, but I really can't. I just have to make everyone think that you're dead."

"Mulder can't think that!"

"Don't worry. There's a note on it's way telling him of your... your predicament. He only gets you back if he does what he's told. Until then, you're stuck with me."

The smile he gave her made her stomach drop. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, and she couldn't even pick him up!

"So... what do you want to eat? I'll go get you something."

Scully couldn't even think about eating. Not when she knew that Mulder's life was in danger, and she was helpless to do anything about it.

"How do I know that you won't poison me again?"

"You don't, but you have to trust someone."

"Ha! You want me to trust _you_?!"

"You don't really have a choice, do you? I hold the key, quite literally, to your freedom. And your life," he told her.

"If you're going to kill me, then just do it!"

"I already told you, you're more useful alive. Besides, I don't_ want_ to kill you."

Scully scoffed at him.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked again. "Or I'll leave, and you can starve for all I care."

"I don't care," she told him. It was true. She didn't care. "I'm sure I'll be happy with anything you bring me."

Scully gave him a fake smile. Krycek returned it with one of his own. He stood up and walked to the door, unlocking it.

"You really are a bitch," he told her, moving to stand in the doorway. "But I kind of like it," he added, smirking.

Krycek shut the door, leaving Scully alone with her thoughts. What was she going to do?! She had to get out of here. She had an idea. It had once worked on Mulder, but she wasn't sure if Krycek would fall for it. However, she had to try!

***

Mulder walked into Scully's apartment, which was basically his now as well. He had been spending all of his time there. He had even paid the last electricity bill.

"Scully?" he called.

He noticed the bags of groceries sitting on the kitchen table. However, the apartment was silent. He knew something was wrong. He rushed into the bedroom, then the bathroom, and then back out to the living room. Nothing. Not even signs of a fight. Maybe there was nothing wrong. Maybe she had forgotten something and left in a rush. Maybe. He, however, doubted it.

Mulder dialed her familiar cell phone number. It began to ring. The ringing could also be heard from inside the apartment. He walked back over to the table, where his search had begun. This time he noticed that her purse was in one of the chairs with the ringing phone inside of it. Not a good sign. He hung up his phone.

Trying to ignore the rising panic he felt in his stomach, he quickly dialed another familiar number. Walter Skinner. Mulder knew he needed help, and he knew that Skinner was the only person that he could turn to right now. Unfortunately, Skinner didn't answer, but Mulder left a hurried message, begging for his help.

Mulder left the apartment, and he made his way back down to his car. He automatically noticed that something was different about his car than when he had left it. There was a note on the windshield. He quickly snatched it but was afraid to open it. He felt his heart racing.

Finally, his head took over from his heart, and he flipped the folded paper open. The message was clear and to the point:  
_Do what you're told, or Dana Scully will die._


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Sometimes I think that Krycek wants to do the right thing, and then he thinks of only himself. *sigh* What an ass.

* * *

Scully was laying on the bed with her hands behind her head, looking up at the ceiling. She was, now, kind of nervous of what Krycek was going to bring her to eat. She wondered if she was going to actually be able to eat it.

As if he knew that she was thinking about him and the food he was bringing, Krycek entered the room. He was carrying a normal enough looking sandwich.

"It's turkey," he informed her as she eyed it suspiciously.

Scully sniffed it a bit, more so to show him that there was still no trust between them, and then took a bite.

"You know, you saved my life once. I'm just repaying the favor."

"Don't flatter yourself," she told him. "I did it for Mulder, not for you."

"But you still did it."

"Trust me, I probably would have shot you myself if I had known..."

"We all want the same thing, Dana," he said softly, slightly changing the topic of conversation. "We're just taking a different path."

"Yeah, _yours_ involves murdering innocent people."

Krycek sighed. They both knew that he couldn't deny it.

"I don't think that I want the same thing that any of you want, anyway. That includes Mulder. I don't care about conspiracies and aliens and monsters and experiments and whatever else there is out there! None of it matters anyway. We live. We die. Our lives are shaped by the choices we make, and there are certain things that we can't change. I don't want to live my life worrying about the things that I can't change!"

"Don't you want to at least try to change them?" he asked, a little taken aback by her rant.

"No. There are things out there bigger then us. Bigger than everyone. I have faith. I think that the best we can do is to actually_ live_ the lives that were given to us, and to not worry about the small stuff."

"It's not small stuff, Dana! I'm trying to save humanity! I'm a good guy, too. Just like Mulder."

"Ha! You're nothing like Mulder."

"That's not what I meant." He paused to think about the words he wanted to say. "The things I do are better for everyone in the long run."

"The ends don't justify the means."

"What are you? A morality teacher?"

"No. I'm a human with a conscience. How can you kill innocent people?" she asked, not being able to get over how arrogant he was.

"Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good," he told her, shrugging.

"Right... I can sift through your bullshit, Krycek. What you mean is that sacrifices have to be made for the greater good of Alex Krycek."

"And... everyone else! You know, killing you would have been much easier for me than keeping you alive."

"But then we wouldn't be having this enlightening conversation."

Scully earned a chuckled from him.

"I suppose not."

"Can I write Mulder a note?" she asked, feeling brave.

"Sorry. Can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Don't want him to know that you are well enough to write."

The look that Scully gave Krycek would have made a weaker man give into her wishes immediately. Oh, if looks could kill, Alex Krycek would be dead.

***

Mulder violently pushed the door open and stormed into the office.

"What the fuck is this about?! Where's Scully?!" he shouted at a very nervous looking Diana Fowley, throwing the note at her.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean..." she lied miserably.

"Don't you fucking lie to me!" he shouted. "I swear if she has so much as a bruise, you'll be very sorry that you ever knew me," he said in a dangerously low voice.

"Fox, I swear to you that I don't know what has happened to her. However, I do know that I tried to convince you, to save her. They were going to-" she stopped mid-sentence, afraid to finish.

"They were going to do what?!"

"Kill her," she answered quietly.

"Why didn't you tell me that when I refused?!"

"I tried! But I couldn't just say it, or they would have killed her anyway! These are very powerful men, Fox. I'm in over my head. I never meant for it to be like this. It was all for the good of the x-files."

No! It was for your selfishness!"

"That's not true. You know it isn't. How about you put the blame where it belongs? On you! You just couldn't keep from digging and prodding, could you?! Now they have targeted your weakness. Her! It's _your_ fault! Not mine!"

Mulder sat down in a chair and held his head in his hands.

"I don't know what to do," he confessed quietly to the floor.

"I would do what they say, if I were you. If you want to save her."

"What kind of statement is that?!" he spat at Diana. "Of course I want to save her!"

"Then do the experiment. We can do it as early as tomorrow."

"Fine. Yeah. I'll do it," he said, defeated.

A small smile played on Diana's lips. She had gotten what she wanted. She didn't really want Dana Scully to be hurt or killed, but she wanted this experiment to be done. She needed to further her career. _We all have to make sacrifices,_ she thought. And she had made plenty of sacrifices. Love. A life. Fox Mulder. Technically, those three things were all one, to her.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: So... I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was abducted by little white men known as my nephews! I love how the aunt always because the free nanny... On a yay-ness note (yes, I made up a word) Nicholas Lea is on _V_! I was very excited. Especially after his line, "Aliens. Shit! It's so amazing." I laughed. Anyway, back to Scully and Krycek. They have missed you!

* * *

Compared to Mulder- well, compared to even Skinner, Krycek was boring. Scully was tired of being watched. She kind of wanted him to leave her alone; however, she didn't want_ him_ to be unwatched. So, she was stuck.

Krycek had made himself comfortable, taking a seat on the bed. Scully sat on the floor with her back leaning against the wall. He stared at her. She looked around the room, occasionally glancing at him.

"So... ever have a girlfriend? I wouldn't think that many girls would go for the secretive asshole type..."

"You did. To me, Mulder's pretty secretive, and he's definitely an asshole."

"You didn't answer my question, which leads me to believe that you're not very good with women."

Krycek scoffed at her statement.

"I'm _very _good with women. I'm just not a relationship kind of guy."

"Again, that just proves that you're an asshole who has a hard time with women."

Scully was only teasing Krycek for her own entertainment. She had a feeling that he was lying about the fact that he chose to not kill her. She thought that someone instructed him to not kill her. So, teasing him was the perfect form of entertainment when he could do nothing about it.

"Are you gay?" she asked, holding back a laugh. "It's okay if you are. I'm all for gay rights..."

"I am NOT gay," Krycek quickly answered. "Like I said, I'm not a relationship kind of guy."

"Sure..." Scully said, giving him a smile.

Krycek sighed and added, "As you know, it's hard to form relationships in our line of work."

"_Our_ line of work? What you do is completely different than what I do!" she told him. "Besides, Mulder managed to form a relationship, and I'll even admit that he's not the best at those."

"Yeah, well, he was lucky that he got stuck with someone who is just as nosy as he is! The two of you make for a very annoying couple..."

"Kettle," Scully said, pointing at herself. "Pot," she said, pointing at Krycek.

"I'm not the one sitting in a room against my will, am I? Obviously, you were annoying enough for someone to want you dead..."

Scully crossed her arms. He had a point. Though, she believed that it was her- well, mainly Mulder's- nosiness that got her in this situation and not Krycek's belief of her being annoying.

"Am I allowed to go to the bathroom?" she asked, changing the subject.

Krycek eyed her suspiciously.

"I really just have to use the toilet. I'm not going to try to escape. I know that's what you're thinking."

Krycek sighed and got to his feet.

"You couldn't escape anyway. There's nowhere to go. Come on. I'll take you."

Scully pushed herself off of the floor and followed Krycek to the door.

"Do remember that I am faster and stronger than you are. Don't try anything. Don't make me hurt you," he warned before opening the door.

Scully ignored his little speech that was meant to scare her. She was not afraid of him. She had seen Mulder kick his ass too many times to ever be afraid of Alex Krycek. Though, she was wondering what Krycek meant when he said "there's nowhere to go." Where were they?

He led her to another larger room. It looked like a typical ladies restroom. Scully was thankful for the windows in the bathroom. They were located high up on the walls, which let her know that she was most likely in a basement. Again, she wondered where they were. Judging by the many other rooms she passed, the bedroom she had been kept in, and the bathroom made for many people, it almost looked like they were in a boarding school or something of the sort.

"I'm giving you 5 minutes. Then I'll be back in to get you," he told her.

As soon as Krycek shut the door, Scully moved quickly to the windows. She knew that she had to be as quiet as possible. She slipped into the last stall, shut the door, locked it, and climbed onto the toilet. The windows opened in, and she tried to pry the window open. Apparently, it hadn't be opened in a very long time because it wouldn't budge. She tried again. It moved a very minimal amount. She contemplated breaking the window, but it was too thick and would make too much noise.

Scully knew that she was running out of time. She grabbed the handle tightly once more, stepped off of the toilet, and let her body weight do the work. The window slowly creaked open. There was just enough space for her to shimmy through the opening. She was happy that she was so small.

She hoisted herself up and into the opening just in time to hear the door open. She heard Krycek shout something, but she didn't care what it was. She pulled and pushed herself the rest of the way through. Once her body hit the muddy earth, she pushed herself onto her feet and started to run. She didn't know where she was or where she was going- well, she knew where she was going- away. Away from Krycek and whoever else may be lurking.

Scully quickly headed for a heavily wooded area. She knew that she would have a better chance if she had somewhere to hide. The tree limbs whipped her face and body, and the overgrown weeds tried to grab her feet and ankles. Though, she managed to keep going. Only one thought repeated in her mind: _Get to Mulder._


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Soooooooooo (10 'O's) sorry for the inexcusably long wait. BUT I'm back. AND so are Scully (yay), Mulder (yay), Diana (boo), Krycek (boo), and others!

* * *

Scully made it to a truckers' food/gas/shop stop. She went straight to the bathroom to clean herself up. She washed her face with the provided hand-soap and ran her wet hands through her hair, trying to control its fluffiness. She then rubbed as much mud and dirt off of her clothes as possible before reemerging into the roadside bar/restaurant.

She found a map on the wall that indicated that she was just near Culpeper, Virginia. Now all she needed was a phone...

Scully walked over to the bar and got the bartender's attention. "Hey, do you have a phone that I could use?"

"Are you kidding?" he rudely asked. "No. We don't have a phone that you can use. I have my own personal cell phone that you can't use. What am I? A charity? Can't you-"

"Okay! Okay! I'll find someone else!" Scully told him. This was one of those moments that she _really_ wished that she had her FBI badge and ID to flaunt in this asshole's face. Then again, she also didn't know who Krycek knew and would try to return her to him. So she decided to play it safe and tell no one her true identity.

Scully spied a trucker sitting by himself at the end of the bar. He had a cell phone sitting on the bar in front of him. She wandered over and stood by the empty seat next to him.

"Hey, this seat taken?" she asked, trying to start some small talk.

"Uh, no. No, it's all yours," he replied, sounding a bit flustered.

Scully sat down and noticed that the man was staring at her.

"I'm Gilly," she introduced herself with a fake name. She stuck out her hand for him to shake it. He stared at it for a second before gripping it and adding his own introduction, "I'm Gunnar."

"Nice to meet you," she replied, giving him her best smile.

"So, uh, what's a pretty little thing like you doing here in a place like this?" he asked curiously after releasing her hand.

Scully laughed at his obvious pick-up line. "Well, I'm meeting some friends here. You?"

"Just passing through, as usual," he replied. "Can I buy you a drink?" he added.

"Um, sure. Why not. I'll just take a Miller Lite."

"Ah. A Miller girl. I like you already!" he told her smiling. "Hey! Dustin!" he called the bartender over. "One Miller Lite and one Miller High Life," he ordered.

The bartender gave Scully a skeptical look but didn't say anything. He grabbed the two beers bottles, popped the tops, and placed them down on the bar in front of them.

"Ah, the champagne of beers! Cheers," he said, lightly tapping the neck of his bottle to hers.

The two of them chatted for a little while. Pretty soon Scully was sure that she had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Hey, Gunnar, my friends aren't here yet, and I'm kind of worried that something happened. Do you mind if I use your phone? I forgot mine," she said in her best innocent 'help me, I'm a girl' voice.

"Oh, no. Not it all," he said, handing it to her. "But you might have to go outside for better reception."

"Thanks," she said, hopping off the bar stool. "It will just take a second."

Scully quickly dialed Mulder's number as she made her way outside. She pressed the phone to her ear and waited for him to pick up. No answer. She left him a quick message saying that she was okay and to NOT go through with the experiment. She added that she would find a way home. Scully called Skinner next with the same result. No answer. She left him a quick message too. Her last call was her last hope. The Gunmen.

"Hello?" Byers' quiet voice answered.

"Byers! It's me. Scully," she whispered.

"Scully? Where are you? Are you-"

"Shh! Listen to me. I need you all to come get me. I'm at Berry's Truck Stop off of highway 15 near Culpeper, Virginia. AND I need you all to bring me something that can blow up a building."

"Why do you-"

"Just get here!" she told him. "Quickly!"

John Fitzgerald Byers turned to his friends after hanging up with Scully.

"Where is she?" Robert Langley asked as Melvin Frohike asked at the same time, "Is she okay?"

"She needs us to come get her..." Byers told them, deep in thought.

"Of course!" Frohike said, already putting on a jacket and searching for the van keys.

"She wants us to bring something to blow up a building. I think she's gone crazy..."

Frohike stopped and exchanged confused looks with Langley. "Blow up a building?"

"That's what she said," Byers told them, shrugging.

"Well then, we better do as she asks," Langley said as if blowing up a building was no big deal.

The Gunmen grabbed whatever they could and rushed to their van. All were hoping that they wouldn't be getting themselves into another mess.

Scully sighed as she hung up the phone.

_Hurry guys,_ she thought and walked back into the truck stop's bar.

She noticed that her new friend, Gunnar, wasn't at the bar where she had left him. She scanned the room to look for him. Her eyes caught the motion of a side door to the bar. It swung open and in stepped Alex Krycek. Scully slowly backed out of the bar and back outside, trying to keep her head down.

_Shit!_ she thought and took off into the woods behind the truck stop.

Scully felt bad about hijacking Gunnar's phone, but she was also extremely relieved to have a way to contact whoever she needed to. Now all she hoped was that Krycek had not seen her.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Has anyone else missed Mulder? I know I have! :)

* * *

Mulder paced back and forth in the small laboratory office. His thoughts consumed him. Not long ago he was lying to Scully, fighting with Scully, and begging Scully to let him to this experiment. He completely trusted Diana- he had told Scully. Now? Now he wasn't so sure about all of this. Now he was forced into participating in order to save Scully's life.

_Scully,_ he thought, taking a seat in a swivel chair. He rested his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. _How do I get us into these messes?_

Mulder knew that he would do anything to save Scully, but he also now knew that this experiment could potentially cost him his own life. Now, sure, he would give his life for Scully's any day of the week, but the thought of never seeing her again made him sick to his stomach. He had to stand again. Start pacing again. If he didn't, he was sure that he was going to throw up.

"Fox?" the quiet voice of Diana questioned from the doorway.

Mulder turned to look at her, letting her know that she had his attention. Again, if he spoke, he was sure that he was going to throw up.

"You don't look good. Are you okay, Fox?" she asked him, entering the room. She walked over to him to put a hand on his clammy forehead.

His anger over such a stupid question squelched any need to vomit. "No! I'm not fucking okay! What kind of question is that?" he blew up at her, backing away from her touch.

"I'm sorry. Truly. I am. About all of this. I know Dana-"

"Scully," he corrected her.

"-Scully means a lot to you, but I'm sure that she'll be okay. Once it's all done."

Mulder scoffed.

Diana walked back up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "It will be okay. Remember, you wanted this too."

Mulder looked down. She was right. He was well aware that he brought this situation upon Scully and himself. "Yeah," he answered, "but not like this."

Diana moved to stand behind him. She stared rubbing his shoulders and upper back, digging her thumbs into his tense muscles.

"Fox, you're doing everything you can do right now. You need to try to relax. I know that's easier said than done, but everything will go more smoothly if you're focused and relaxed. It will all be over soon," she told him quietly, a small smile playing on her lips.

Diana was slightly surprised and extremely pleased that Mulder was allowing her to touch him. The warmth of his body felt blissful under her cool hands. She felt his strong, tense muscles start to relax a bit. She hoped that he was beginning to trust her again.

"You're going to have to get out of those clothes soon," she spoke again, letting her hands trail down his back to drop to her sides.

Diana walked to the door. Mulder followed her with only his eyes.

"I'll show you where you can change," she told him, stepping back to him.

She gently took his hand and entwined her fingers in his. Mulder just watched her movements, but let them happen. She then lightly pulled him to follow behind her.

Everything was white. Walls. Doors. Floors. Mulder's eyes glanced around as if trying to memorize everything. As if he were studying everything. Then his eyes would stay for awhile on the brunette leading him down the long, sterile-looking hallway. The woman he once loved. He would think these thoughts about her. About loving her. Then his guilt would cause him to study his surroundings again.

"Here we are," Diana said, opening a door into a cozy little room. It was white as well. "There are a few robes in here. Grab one and put it on. I have to go get some notes and then I'll be back to get you."

Mulder nodded, stepping into the room. Diana took his forearm in her hand as he moved past her. He turned and locked his questioning eyes on hers.

"It will be okay," she said, trying to reassure him. Though, it sounded a bit as if she were reassuring herself.

Diana then put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him. It was brief, but it was a strong, full-lipped kiss. He didn't fight it. And as quickly as she had kissed him, she was out the door, shutting it behind her.

Mulder took in his new surroundings. White room but with a beige carpet. There were three doors in the room. They were beige as well. He opened all of them to find that there was a type of dressing room behind each one. There were a few white robes neatly folded on a shelf in each room.

_At least I won't clash,_ he thought, picking up a robe from the shelf.

He went into the middle room to change, closing the door behind him, but before he could even take his t-shirt off he had to sit down on a provided white bench. Why, he wondered, was he letting Diana touch him, massage him, kiss him? He already hated himself for getting Scully into this mess. Now it was as if his mind had decided that since he had already fucked up that it would be okay to keep doing it.

Mulder had to admit that the kiss with Diana was nice. Perhaps some of his old feelings for her still existed. He buried his face in his hands and groaned.

_What. The. Fuck. Is wrong with me!_ he thought, thoroughly frustrated.

He loved Scully. He knew he loved Scully. He had never loved anyone more than he loved Scully- this included himself!

Mulder roughly rubbed his hands down his face and let them land in his lap. He began psyching himself. _Might as well use my 'Oxford education' on myself..._ He had a feeling that: 1) because he was hating himself, he started doing things that would make Scully hate him too, 2) he needed to keep his mind off of the very real possibility that Scully could already be dead, even if that included kissing Diana, and 3) he was going crazy! Well, crazier than he already was.

As Mulder was trying to wrap his head around all of these feelings and thoughts, he heard the outside door open. He had not even started to get undressed and was not quite ready for Diana to come get him. He was about to voice this thought when he heard a male voice coming from the main room. _Not Diana._

"Yes. Sir, I'm sorry," the voice said. The voice was familiar. The man was obviously talking on the phone.

There was a long pause.

"No! I didn't think-" the voice started again but was interrupted.

Pause.

"It is my fault, but she's not exactly stupid."

Pause.

"That's my point!"

Pause.

"She's most likely in the woods," the voice sounded exasperated.

Mulder quickly realized that this 'she' was most likely not Diana. He hoped that it was Scully.

"Yes, sir. There are people looking for her. That little bitch won't get far! I swear if I get my hands on her again I'll finish the job!"

Anger boiled within Mulder. It was Scully this man was talking about. She was alive. She had escaped. Also, not quite as importantly, he knew the voice to be Alex Krycek. Mulder got as close to the door as he could without making a sound. He tensed his muscles and waited for his old pal Krycek to hang up the phone. He needed to be patient. The calm before the storm. The storm of his rage beating the fuck out of Krycek. Again.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Sorry. I'm not the quick updater that I used to be. My goal is AT LEAST once a week. Hopefully more.

Unfortunately, for our heroes, I'm feeling very angst-y. Poor Mulder and Scully... cause I'm gonna take it out on them.

* * *

Alex Krycek felt a heavy weight plow into him. As he hit the floor, the weight on top of him, all of the air was knocked out of his lungs. He gasped and coughed for air. He then felt a fist collide with his stomach, and another fist struck him in the face. He felt the warm gush of blood stream out of his nose. After the initial shock wore off, he began to fight back. He hit and kicked, trying to get the person who was assaulting him off of him.

"You fucking bastard!" Krycek heard the familiar voice of Mulder growl.

He couldn't help a small smile. _Ah, Mulder... And so here we go again._

The knowledge that Krycek knew his opponent gave him a surge of energy. He pushed with all of his might, and soon Mulder was flung across the small room. Both men slowly made it to their feet, staring each other down and breathing heavily.

"What did you do to her?" Mulder asked in a dangerously low tone.

"Nothing she didn't mind..." Krycek smiled, provoking Mulder to go on the attack again.

Mulder barreled into Krycek, slamming him into the wall behind him. Mulder wrapped his hands around Krycek's throat and began choking him.

"Where is she?" he hissed.

Krycek was in no position to actually answer Mulder's question, but Mulder didn't seem to care too much about that. Krycek tried to pry Mulder's hands away, causing him to squeeze harder.

"Muller," Krycek barely croaked. "Le' go. You ne'er fin' 'er."

Mulder contemplated for a second before giving into Krycek's wishes. He released his neck and let him drop to the floor.

Krycek gasped for air. "She got away," he finally told him. "I didn't do anything to her. Wasn't going to. I was protecting her."

"Yeah, right," Mulder scoffed.

"It's true," Krycek said, still crouched on the floor.

"Nothing you say is ever true!" Mulder said, kicking Krycek in the ribs.

Krycek fell to his side. Mulder took one more good kick at him. This time, hopefully, breaking his nose.

Mulder pulled the door opened, glanced either way down the hall, and bolted to the right. Situations like this was when he _really_ loved his photographic memory. He could remember every hallway, every turn, every door that had let him to the room in which he just kicked Krycek's ass... again. He knew the exact way out of there. Making sure he wouldn't get caught would be the hard part.

Mulder ran through the hallways of the building, occasionally ducking into doorways when a guard or a lab worker wandered by. By some miracle he made it outside into the night air without any major problems. He stopped for a second in the parking lot to catch his breath. He bend over with his hands on his knees.

"MULDER!" he heard Scully call to him.

He looked up to see her running towards him.

"Scully," he breathed as she plowed herself into his arms. He promptly kissed the top of her pretty little head.

"We have to go," she told him urgently, grabbing his hand and trying to pull him to follow her.

For the first time he noticed that she had a gun, and that the Gunmen's van was waiting about fifty yards away across a field in the darkness of a few trees.

"Scully, wh-" Mulder began to ask but was cut off by a semi-loud 'boom.'

He immediately turned. Mulder quickly learned that the 'boom' was created by the main door to the building being slammed open against the outer brick wall. And, of course, Krycek was slowly walking out of the building towards them.

"Oh, come on! How many ass-kickings do I need to give you in order for you to leave us the hell alone!" Mulder yelled to him, exasperated. Krycek was persistent, he'd give him that.

Krycek just smirked and kept coming. Mulder moved to put himself between Krycek and Scully. He readied himself for a fight. "Ya know, not that I'd need it, but she'll help me kick your ass... again. It's two verses one, Krycek. Give it up."

"Actually, it's two verses two," Krycek told him, raising a gun to aim it at Mulder.

It was like slow motion. Krycek pulled the trigger. A shot rang out into the quiet night air. Mulder felt the pressure hit him, and he hit the ground. He quickly realized that he had not been shot, and that the pressure was Scully knocking him to the ground. He noticed that her gun had fallen from her hand. Mulder grabbed it. He then shot at Krycek, hitting him in the shoulder of his shooting arm. He shot once again, shattering Krycek's left kneecap, bringing the man to the ground in pain.

Mulder stood up, gun still aimed at Krycek. He walked over and grabbed Krycek's gun off of the ground. He then turned to walk over to Scully and help her up. Scully was sitting on the ground looking up at him. The look in her eyes terrified him. Fear was shining back at him. Scully was clutching her side, right below her armpit. There was blood.

Any thoughts of what to do with Krycek vanished from Mulder's mind. Thoughts of what to do for Scully took over.

"Scully," he whispered, crouching down to her level to try and get a look at her wound.

"I'm fine, Mulder," she whispered. "Just help me get to the van."

Mulder picked her up effortlessly. He half ran-half jogged (because he didn't want to jostle her too much but knew he needed to get to the van quickly) across the field towards the van. Once there, Langley opened the sliding door, Mulder placed Scully gently on the floor, he hopped in, and they slammed the door shut. Byers peeled out as he drove away.

"Get us to a hospital! Now!" Mulder said forcefully, his voice dripping with fear and panic.

"What happened?" Langley asked.

Mulder ignored him, "Scully, you're going to be okay." He gently stroked her hair.

She nodded and forced herself to smile up at him.

Scully knew different. She was a doctor. She knew that the bullet had entered through her serratus anterior, gone through her ribs, and pierced her lung. Her lung was slowly filling with blood. However, there was was no way that she would let Mulder know that. So she just smiled up at him and held tightly onto his hand. And she prayed.


End file.
